Oxymoron
by Nispedana
Summary: Sometimes...? When you try to outsmart someone, you tend to fall for her instead. And how could this change things for Light and his family? Fem! L.
1. Exposition

This is my very first Death note fic, and this is my…er… 11th story. Please check out my profile if you have the time! My other fics and FanArts may interest you.

And please don't forget to review!

**DISCLAIMER: **I WISH I own Death Note

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…

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**CHAPTER 1: Exposition**

TOKYO UNIVERSITY, entrance ceremony

In the center of the country's premiere university stood a majestic hall where the year's grand opening ceremony was being held. Inside sat a new batch of promising students as well as their close relatives. Although… despite its long history, they had never received two extremely outstanding students in the same generation- let alone the same _year_.

"...our student representatives: Yagami Light and Mukahi Lawliette." the proud principal announced enticing quite a bit of murmurs from the crowd. Everyone watched the two top notchers walk to the stage with blunt interest.

"Did you hear? They both got a _hundred_ in all subjects!"

"Dear G- Is that even possible?"

"That guy is cute…"

"Is that a girl… she reminds me of Sadako."

"Maybe she _is_ Sadako."

"Yeah, Sadako with waivy hair and scarf."

"Sadako is a crazy genius girl?"

"Not impossible…"

"At least she walks like a normal girl…"

"Yeah but otherwise she's the opposite."

"But seriously… the guy is hot."

"For a student of TODAI you sure can be shallow."

"What did you say?"

"It's true, anyway."

Someone cleared his throat and everyone lost their voices. They stared at the young man with charisma and authority that a boy his age normally wouldn't not even understand. No one dared to make any noise, and they passively looked at him as he stared at them- all of them- as if ensuring that he had every bit of their attention.

They all listened intently to the boy who spoke as if he was the president himself.

...

SOMEWHERE IN TOKYO, a few hours prior

Yagami Light woke up at the usual time he wakes up, 6:00 am- his biological clock as accurate as always. He stood up and nonchalantly got ready for the day everyone was making such a fuss about. Doing speeches for opening ceremonies was practically second nature to him, after all and he had never experienced _not_ being the top. He was rather certain that fact won't change, either.

In any case, his mother prepared an even more-special-than-usual breakfast for the family that day. She prepared his 'favorite' pancake and bacon combination; although, in reality, he never actually had a favorite food. It's either they're good or bad, but he knew at a young age that that was a very unusual thing and so he invented a list of his so-called 'favorites'.

The family chatted about a lot of things wherein he shared a lot. Despite his actual indifference in most of the topics, he loved his family and that pretty much showed. The topic, though, was mainly on _him_ being basically the smartest kid of his generation.

Of course, he took it all graciously despite the fact that he was barely flattered. He knew that fact a long time ago, and practically thought of it as a law.

His father, a very firm man, who was the chief officer in the Police department soon cleared his throat to catch everyone's attention.

"Now, to commemorate our very own Light being top student again. Cheers."

He just smiled and followed his father's lead. "Cheers!"

...and pretended to be as ecstatic as everyone else.

…

WINCHESTER, ENGLAND, Weeks prior

Quillsh Wammy, also known as 'Watari' by a small group of trusted persons, stared at his adoptive daughter anxiously. She had just taken an entrance exam in Japan, and he could not help but worry. No, he was not worried about her not getting the highest grade– he was worried on how she would fare. _If_ she finally decided to go through with it, then Tokyo University would officially be her very _first_ school.

Lawliette had been home-schooled her whole life… and he knew that the children in his orphanage were all odd. Some were normal, of course, but most had such a high IQ that they simply did not see the world the same way. The most extreme case he would ever see was this 'little' girl, and maybe... her two most beloved friends.

The little girl had a monstrous sweet tooth, odd habits, and she would _always_ wear that gray and worn-out scarf of hers no matter where she was. There was also the fact that people say that she looked like a fictional character from a Japanese Horror Film called 'The Ring' because of her long hair, except that hers wasn't as straight.

Heck- he even let them watch the movie in an attempt to _maybe_ show her how people from the outside actually looked at her. But it proved to be vain– no, counterproductive in fact… since the little girl actually took a _liking_ to the character and ended up even trying to look like the woman even more. The children even invented a game based on what they watched.

He sighed. The young girl had always baffled _him_– and he was the greatest inventor of his time.

Although… when he saw her all those years ago, he knew immediately that she was the perfect child he was looking for to raise to become what he called the 'greatest detective' in the world. But due to certain… events that he did not dare recall, he had lost hope for that dream and did his best to keep her from doing any sort of detective work. It was ironic, really, but he wanted her alive and well. To ensure that, he needed to keep her from what he had wanted for her in the first place. It was his way to take care of the only daughter that he had ever had.

Well, admittedly it was his fault he was having such a hard time letting her go. He had been too over-protective of the girl, and he refused to expose her to the world. He knew it was a very unintelligent decision– but he could not help it. He had cared for her parents deeply and he promised them her full safety.

He just took it to a different level altogether.

Lawliette had been happy with the kids of the Wammy House, so he didn't see why she needed to go to a public school of sorts. But when those two almost simultaneous events happened, he started doubting himself and the orphanage that he had created.

But it was too late… the idea of her venturing into the world and becoming a normal person was no longer an option.

For years, it went on. She had indulged herself in activities that normal brains would not be able to even visualize. At the age of 15, she was able to recreate most of the inventions that took him years to comprehend.

But then, one day, for a reason she had yet to tell him, she suddenly wanted to get to know more about her parents. Apparently, she had been unsatisfied with what he knew about them and wanted to find out more.

And so, she took the entrance exam of the school where her parents had studied, met, and fell in love.

It was touching, but he still found that a huge part of him did not want her to do that. Lawliette… was still too innocent for her age, and he was afraid people would take advantage of that. Despite her deductive skills and inhuman ability to empathize, she still didn't have an accurate concept of immorality.

But she was almost 18 years of age, now… Customs state that she can do whatever she wants by then.

He sighed.

Of all the customs that they didn't follow, she just had to choose _that_ one.

So he had to agree, begrudgingly, that she would go and study in Japan…with a couple of body guards, of course.

And maybe he should come with her, too.

...

TOKYO UNIVERSITY, Present

And applause were heard across the stadium for their speeches. They both had wonderful content catching the willing and full attention of the audience. Sadako was a bit monotonous, though… which made her odd charm all the more impressive.

Well not for Light, though… or so he thought.

How could someone possibly be on par with him? And such a disheveled-looking person as well. She had her barely-combed hair uncomfortably cover a huge part of her face, she was wearing inappropriate gray-on-gray informal attire over-arched by a very worn-out scarf, and… she was sitting _Seiza_ on a _chair_.

Light, of course, did not deny her capabilities. She was smart, he could tell, despite that bizarre appearance of hers. But she was also a woman. Women are supposed to be rationally inferior to men… not that he's extremely sexist for his mother was a smart woman, but to be _on the same level _as him?

He was Light Yagami, and all his life he had been far superior to anyone he had met. He would not expect the person who will challenge him would be someone like _her._

He frowned. He knew he had an ego- but its not like it showed, and he certainly had the right. He stared at her with his peripheral view, and to his surprise she noticed him. She made a slight but polite bow.

"Nice to meet you."

"Ah. Likewise." He replied, smiling his usual automatic smile. And in response she just stared at him, and he looked forward as if he did not see her do so. A minute or so passed and he could sense his irritation grow. She was still staring at him, with an almost analytical eye that _he_ had always used on other people. Others, on the other hand, could only look at _him_ admiringly, and that was a fact- so far.

He mentally glowered into thin air.

He disliked her already.

.  
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**END OF CHAPTER 1**

_**Coming Soon:  
**_**CHAPTER 2: The Start of an Odd Friendship**

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…

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**A/N: **This will be the shortest chapter, btw, normal chapter lengths should be at least twice as long. ^^ And please consider adding this to your community, this definitely needs it!

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Please tell me what you thought. :)


	2. An Odd Friendship

L will be OOC, probably, but please inform me if the changes isn't making any sense any more... okay?**  
**And I will thoroughly love reading anything you want to say though so please review!

**DISCLAIMER: ** I WISH I own Death Note

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...

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**CHAPTER 2: The Start of an Odd Friendship**

TODAI

It was spring once again in the land of the rising sun. Cool breeze swept past the incoming students, carrying soft pink petals that floated gracefully around them perhaps waiting to be marveled like before... before most people lost the sense of beauty in the most banal things like them.

Indeed... that day was just a normal spring day in Japan, and it was also the first day of classes. Nothing much, nothing special… it was simply the start of another routine year where Yagami Light would be the top. Even if this time, he had a good rival, it did not mean that he was going to lose.

As he neared the school gates, he saw an old fashioned car standing by. He knew by its appearance that it was a considerably expensive vehicle and whoever owned it must be a very important person. He shrugged. He did not care. Well, that was until the so-called VIP actually came out of the car. She nonchalantly stepped outside, looking oblivious to the incredulous stare of her new school mates and he coolly shook his head, continuing his way to the gate without a hint of care.

When he reached his destination, he stoically looked around, remaining disinterested of the admiring stares that were thrown at him by pretty much everyone. Other than the setting, it was the same as his previous years in High School- friendly students introduce themselves their own way, indifferent students hang out here and there, and some just stared at the cherry blossoms as if it was the first time she saw it.

He knew it wasn't, though, but he was almost certain that she didn't see it too often– that extremely pale skin of hers told him she didn't go out often to bask in the sun. She was wearing practically the same thing as during the opening ceremony, only this time she was wearing pants. That large scarf of hers was still there, and its tail followed the wind as if it was a wave. He didn't take his line of sight away for a moment longer until she abruptly turned to him and smiled- which was odd since her face muscles barely even _moved_.

He coolly turned his head away to ignore her. It was odd how rude he was, she was still a girl and despite his biases he had always been a gentleman. There was simply something about her that rendered him indifferent of such things for the moment.

He continued to walk, hearing squeals and murmurs about him on all sides. The images of her under the Sakura tree kept appearing in his head and he, at least, willed himself to analyze what he just saw. Something interesting must be in that scene for it to stay so unnecessarily long in his head.

He sighed.

The Sakura trees were probably just being especially interesting that day.

…

Several minutes later

Light had arrived in his first class. He easily ignored all the stares and sat down on a good seat amongst the rows of pews. A random guy in front of him, turned to him and smiled. He introduced himself as Rokko Hiru, proudly pointing to himself as if everyone should know him. He mentally shook his head in disapproval at the boy's misplaced confidence. The guy was also being too comfortable with him, opening topics he couldn't care any less about. He was polite as usual, of course, despite the fact that his mind was telling the guy to buzz off.

Rokko, admittedly, was a relatively good-looking young man. He had short honey-brown hair and familiar-looking eyes. He had a way of speaking, and he was obviously smart– something already given since he had passed the exam. But Light genuinely had no interest in making friends and he remained courteous all throughout, for even when he never really bothered to get actual friends, it never did hurt to know people and make connections.

Especially in_ this_ school where everyone showed much promise in their future careers.

A moment later, a beautiful woman with short raven hair sat beside him, she had the poise of a lady and... pretended to ignore him. Light knew better, of course, and he could not hep but sigh internally at her antics.

_Women._

"Hello." He greeted pretending to be eager to introduce himself. She did not flinch and acted as in a professional manner.

"Hello."

Light shrugged. _'She's playing hard to get? Oh well...'_

"My name is Yagami Light. Yoroshiku."

"Ahh.. Takada Kiyomi."

He just nodded and she opened her mouth to start some sort of 'cool' conversation with him- when he saw her. She was already surrounded by people with fake smiles pasted on their faces. They were probably befriending her because of money, which she pretty much exhibited considering her little entrance.

'_Humans_.' He sighed sardonically as he watched them with… slight… interest. It was one of the reasons why he never really bothered talking to people other than making them useful acquaintances.

She looked… happy, though- not that he cared. He told himself he pitied her for her trusting nature and that was it. Her group sat at the other side of the room to them, albeit a row in front of his so he could still see her… which was good, since he can 'monitor' her for his so-called "scholastic" reasons.

"She had the same grade as yours, right? She's an odd girl…" Takada commented finally being able to open a topic.

Light did not even bother to wince.

"Yeah."

…

CAMPUS GARDEN, Lunch time

Light was coolly walking around school, with his hands in his pockets and without a care in the world. He took different routes and explored the place, ensuring that none of his fangirls would follow his leisure walk of boredom. He was not hungry and his lunch break was extremely long, giving him time to afford such activities. Rokko and Takada invited him for lunch, true, but he (politely) refused them. Light had always preferred eating alone.

He eventually reached an isolated part of the campus and saw a huge Sakura tree… with a very familiar figure eating alone under its pink shade. Like before, she sensed his stare and smiled at him in an annoyingly familiar manner. He initially attempted to ignore her (again), but went against it in the end. He did not want her to think he was being rude for no reason at all. She would look down on him. Besides, it would be interesting to find out where her so-called 'Friends' were.

"You're not going to eat Lunch, Yagami-san?" she asked in her trademark languid tone-of-voice.

"I have a two-hour break before my next class."

"Ah. What a coincidence, I do to. You should join me, I have plenty of food for two."

"No, thank you." He said sending her a fake smile, which he thought she actually _sensed_. But odd enough, she did not even flinch.

"Just sit with me, then."

"Where are the other students that were with you earlier?" he asked and added quickly. "I saw you when you enter the classroom."

"They're in the canteen. They asked me to join them, of course, but I refused."

"Why?" he asked smiling unconsciously. Had she known their motives, after all?

"Because they would probably ask me to treat them, and I have no money." She answered casually and his eyes widened at her reply. She knew the motives but did not see what was wrong with it?

How old was she, anyway? _Six?_

"So you will treat them if you do?"

"Not really, no. I don't earn my allowance, after all. I have to ask Quillsh-san for permission first." She said in an unexpectedly serious tone of voice forcing Light to uncharacteristically stifle a chuckle.

"Yagami-kun…"

"Hm?"

"My neck will get strained eventually if you don't sit down."

"A-a." he uttered and reflexively sat down. Wait- why did he sit, again? He took all of his composure back and appeared in his normal stoic facade again, and but then she frowned out-of-nowhere and this gesture caught him off-guard.

"Yagami-kun… why do you always look so strained?" She asked so straight-forwardly that he wasn't able to control his wince.

"Ah… you must be imagining things." He smiled.

"No, I distinctly know what I see."

"You seem a little over-confident in your abilities."

"So do you." She spat back and he frowned. _Where did this come from?_

"You are being rude, Mukahi-san." He commented bluntly, starting to feel more and more annoyed at her and her antics. What _was _with her, anyway? Telling him things that he already knew...

He let moment of silence pass to compose himself and he finally decided to look at her, and his eyes twitched simultaneously. _Why the heck would she look so surprised?_

"I am?"

This _couldn't_ be true, right? "Yes."

"Gomen ne, Yagami-kun." she muttered apologetically, making one of his eyebrow level.

"You're weird."

"Hai."

"That was an insult."

"I know. I just get that a lot."

"…"

"Ne, Yagami-kun..."

"Yes…?" he asked pushing away whatever kind of anticipation that suddenly attacked him. She scratched her cheeks in embarrassment, and he couldn't help but smile. She looked at him with those shiny black orbs of hers, and cleared her throat before speaking.

"Can we be friends?"

…

MATH CLASS

The classroom was huge, with a black board 4 meters tall and with length at least twice as long. It was the first day and it was already full of review lessons from high school. Yagami Light just sat there and stared at it.

He frowned. It's not like he hadn't been asked that question before – in fact many had asked him to be his friends countless times in the past. Some intrigued by him, some simply interested, and some wanted to use him as some sort of trophy-friend. The thing was, if the person was promising then he will say yes despite never really seeing the person that way.

_"Can we be friends?"_

Why wasn't he able to answer her? She was evidently a character with a lot of money. She was smart, and despite her appearance she would probably have a good career ahead of her. But what was that feeling of… anxiety?

No, not _just_ that… there was something else. His eye jerked at a thought.

_Fear_? He's bloody _scared _of her?

Surely not-

In any case, he did not understand his reluctance. And he was Yagami Light– such uncertain things _need_ to end as soon as it possible. He involuntarily tapped his hand, keeping a straight face- which, in the end, still caught the professor's attention.

"Do you have something in mind, Yagami-san?"

"Ah…" he uttered, startled, and quickly scanned whatever was on the black board. He was lucky there was a typographical error.

"Sir, can you please check that last formula?"

The old man batted an eyelid, and whipped his head to face the board. "Oh. That's right. I forgot the minus sign." He smiled in embarrassment. "Thank you, Yagami-kun."

"Aa…" he nodded apathetically, returning to his daze. And then he felt an ogle and he turned to it. It was _her_, and she was just staring at him. How weird. Her eyes were as black as ivory and her expression was practically frozen like that, yet he could still see the worry that enveloped it. Was she making that... slight change of expression because of him?

He scoffed. Of course not.

He glared at his notebook and pretended to write the problem on the board.

_What the heck was with him today?_

...

SHIBUYA

The sun was slowly setting down in the country, and Light could see that so evidently despite the tall buildings arching in front of the cloudless sky. Shouts, yells, conversations, horns, and so many other noises merged yet Light easily tuned every single decibel of noise out. He was walking home that time, and it was definitely one of the longest walk home he ever had. It was only his first class in the university and he was already having a problem.

His only explanation at the moment would be that he really did approve of her as someone who was on par with him. If he didn't think of her as an _equal_ then she would not really be such a… threat to him, correct?

He frowned. He did not think he was such a person- feeling like that means that he was insecure, and that was not an option for adjectives that he would use on himself.

He unreceptively passed shop after shop, eventually stopping at the famous Shibuya crossing. He paused as he noticed that he was standing right in front of the gigantic television that was showing the news. To his eyes, though, it was only showcasing just how rotten the world was.

But then a sudden image of _her, _for some reason, appeared in his mind. He recalled that moment after classes just when she was about to get into her expensive car. Like those two times, she felt his gaze but this time she did not smile back. Her reaction didn't surprise him, it was _his_.

Nothing could explain the disappointment that he felt.

Putting those unnecessary and troublesome images aside, he continued to watch the news blankly as he always had… pondering if it would ever be cleaned. But an aspiring detective, sadly, even _he_ doubted that.

"Yagami-kun?"

He blinked. What? _He could hear her voice_, now?

"Yagami-kun." She called again but this time with a slight sarcastic tone in her voice.

"Nani?" he snapped stoically looking at her, masking his surprise.

"Nothing." She shrugged. "I just felt like calling you."

"…So you have nothing better to do." He spat back. Really, though, where were his manners when he talks to _her_?

"Hai."

_Silence_

He let out a deep breath and stoically looked around her. "Where's your chauffeur and body guards?"

"I escaped from them."

He narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"I was bored."

"…"

"Aren't _you_ bored, too, Yagami-san? You certainly look like you are."

He did not answer, again. _What's with this girl?_ One moment she… refused to smile at him, and now she's acting all normal again. He stopped his wince under her anticipating stare.

"What do you want?" he asked irritably, no longer able to stop himself. He thought he would hate these moments when he failed to take full control of his reactions, but peculiar to say he didn't. Not even a bit. And apparently, neither did she. She continued to talk to him as if he was never uncouth with her.

"You know what the perfect solution to boredom is?"

"I don't even thi-"

"Psh." She cut him off holding her index finger up. She let a moment of silence pass by for effect, as she maintained a serious expression.

"Eating sweets."

And so... a few minutes later, he found himself at a huge bakery with an unbelievable variety of food.

GOLDELUXE

Light was shocked- very shocked at just how much she could eat. The whole _table_ was full of sweets and it was a table for _four_. Yet he was pretty much silent for most of the time he spent there. He was too busy pushing the smile that seemed to creep on his face every now and then.

"Like I _said_ Yagami-kun. You look strained. Eat."

"No, Thank you." He stated dismissively and continued to watch her. She did not mind, and his manners seemed to have no meaning with her, anyway. Besides, he found that being rude to her could actually be quite fun- in many ways. And no, he would not use 'teasing'; it was a hideous word unfit for him.

"You do realize that that mentality is why most obese people get fat in the first place?"

"Try this one." She ignored him and pushed towards him an untouched parfait. A sweat dropped behind his head and blankly stared at the food.

"Come on. Just this one."

"Ha…No."

She shrugged and let the cup rest in front of him. She then looked at the ceiling as if something interesting was drawn there.

"I remember watching this show…"

Light raised an elegant brow of amusement. _'Where is this going?'_

"…something about the saying that gentlemen should _never_ reject a lady's request."

"But you're not a lady."

"Really, Yagami-kun, really?" he scoffed in amusement.

"Really."

She pouted in her own, odd way. "Just eat."

This time though, he did not hide his smile.

"Fine."

*A few moments of silence and shameless gaping later*

"So, how was it?"

"It was good."

"I told you so. But what's your favorite dessert, though?"

He skimmed through his made-up list.

"Apple pie."

"Liar."

"That obvious, huh?" he answered as coolly as he could. He wondered what could have given him away… he shrugged and decided to answer truthfully. "I don't have one."

"Well you are a weird person, Yagami-kun."

"Coming from you, Mukahi-san, that is quite disconcerting…"

She smiled. "It's true though. The truth hurts, as they say."

"Then this one will be my new favorite." He stated after stifling a chuckle, pointing at the dessert that he ate. He had never had such a casual conversation with a stranger before…

"Why do you sit like that?" he asked nonchalantly. It was an odd question, and what even made it odder that he wasn't exactly thinking when he asked it.

"It increases the blood flow to my head."

"Ah." He expressed and did some calculations in his head. It was true, but- "You really sit like that no matter where you are?"

"That sort of like asking a question with an obvious answer, Yagami-kun."

Good point. He didn't even know why he asked that, too. Did he ask simply because he wanted to? And there he thought he wanted to know less… trivial things. But as always, he remained stoic. "You do realize, though, that people look at you differently."

"Hai. But I got too used to this already." She replied. "Well. That and I don't think it matters."

"Yes, it does."

"What other people think, Yagami-kun, only matters if you actually affect them."

He stared at her for a while and quickly rummaged his brain for a reply. She was making points he had never considered before– and he was determined to do the same to her. Passively accepting these opinions was not an option.

"Well… you are extremely blunt and some people are made uncomfortable by your antics."

"That was why I apologized, yes? Besides, people will get used to this." She answered looking below pertaining to her sitting position. She really wasn't planning to lose, wasn't she? He liked that… and he had never wanted to extend this kind of conversation before, either.

Mukahi Lawliette was certainly giving him a lot of firsts.

He blinked. That last sentence kind of sounded perverted, which was extremely disturbing since his brain had always risen above his body. Perverted thoughts had never been a problem. He stared at the girl in front of him- long raven hair with waves that framed her face, had a fashion sense of a prisoner, practiced alien-like behaviour, not womanly at all- Hm… of course not. Not his type at all.

But then again, did he actually _have_ a type?

"Whatever you're thinking, Yagami-kun, is very disconcerting."

"*cough*" he gagged out of surprise. He immediately cleared his throat and caught his composure but it was too late. She smiled in amusement, and he found himself gaping at her.

"I was thinking of why you love that scarf so much? Do you ever take it off?" He lied. And frankly he was a good liar when he wanted to, so he could tell she was having doubts if her senses were right. Darn her senses, it's making him lose _his_.

He was startled by his attempt to 'tease' her though, and unfortunately it didn't entice the type of reaction he was expecting. He was expecting her to… what? Smile and then make a snide comment?

Lawliette showed the exact opposite: Sadness.

He wanted to apologize immediately or at least add words that would change the meaning of his question but nothing came. Where the heck was his gigantic brain when he needed it?

"I don't ever take it off, Yagami-san."

"Ah…" was all he could utter. It was lame, he knew, and it was very uncharacteristic. He needed to change the topic, and it was not difficult at all.

"What's your favorite dessert, Mukahi-san?" He asked casually and her face lightened up by a bit.

"Cake. Particularly chocolate cake."

"I see. Want me to buy you one?" he offered and her sudden beaming smile made him flinch.

"You w- uh oh."

"Lawliette-sama!" It was her bodyguards.

"How disappointing…"She sighed. "Nice speaking with you Yagami-kun."

But to his surprise, she slowly turned around back to his direction and added confidently, "For the record, I still think you're my friend."

And Light, being the composed person that he was… could only smirk. He pretended not to be affected at all.

"Whatever you say."

.

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**END OF CHAPTER 2**

_**Coming Soon:  
**_**CHAPTER 3: Death Note  
**

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...

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**REPLIES TO ANGELS:  
**

**Eadha Ohn -** Thank you for the review! But I hope the fact that I will be putting in the Death Note won't turn you off! The canon will only last for 10 more chapters or so, anyway...

**Bree Renee - **I hope I didn't disappoint~! Thank you for the review! :D

**symbalin -**I'm glad to hear that. :D I can't prioritize any one of my stories for long, though. Thank you for the review! XD

**Bexteron1990 - **Thank you for the review~! hehe. I'm glad that you saw the characters that way! That means I wasn't very out-of-character in the first chap. RIGHT? tehee

**DarkPatu - **Thank you for the review! And I am so happy you thought so~! I love Watari very much, too, and I hope I did justice to him and to the anime. hehehe

**Cheyla - **Thank you for the review! I hope you liked this one~

**Nadia Blackrose - **Lol. Yeah, so far the fluffy moments are a bit awkward with me but I think it's still good... Well at least that's what I hope. XD Thank you so much for the review~!

**KiyUzumaki - **Thank you for the review~ Hehe. Hope this chap didn't disappoint~ (:

**OldStoneface - **Again, thank you so much for pointing them out! Thanks for the review and I'll try my best to improve my grammar. XD

**Jhoi Marie Boli **- I don't have a constant update rate since I have so many stories and a very inconsistent muse. haha. About the continuation of **Legacy**... haha.. That would seriously require an epic amount of thinking. XD I may continue but when I finish 2 or 3 of my other long-fics. Thanks for reviewing~!

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I would be so glad to read your opinions! :D


	3. Death Note

**A/N:** This chap onwards would be very cannon but I would change a lot of things. One important change would be the fact that L's light with Misora Naomi would _not_ be the BB murder case, but a less... morbid one as to be consistent with L's current innocence. I want BB alive! Trololol.

**DISCLAIMER: ** I WISH I own Death Note

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...

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**CHAPTER 3: Death Note  
**

SHINIGAMI REALM

In a paradoxically empty and desolated world of skeletons, dust, and dirt held a species beyond most humans' imaginations. They were called Shinigamis, or 'Death gods' and they came in various forms... yet they were doing fundamentally the same things- that was: sleeping, gambling, or just staring at the vast bare space that surrounded them. Killing human beings, too, if they weren't lazy.

Two such creatures: one a dark colored monster of humanoid shape; and another more circular of a form that seemed to be a combination of a bat and a mummy... watched an odd opening on the ground. Ryuk and Sidoh were their names, respectively, and they stared passively at the hole– their connection with the human world, with blunt interest.

Then a moment later, a certain event unfolded and Sidoh's huge mouth let out a cackle that would creep anyone out.

"Looks like little Sadako had charmed that poor lad!"

"Really?" Ryuk asked as he squint his eyes. Maybe it was true, maybe it wasn't… but in any case, it was interesting to watch. Ryuk had planned on dropping Sidoh's notebook ages ago. Well, that was after stealing it of course.

It was just that when he was _about_ to take it away, he had coincidentally caught him watching an odd human. A very odd girl with jet black hair. She was one of a kind– and he found himself wanting to watch her, too. She was a very entertaining person to see, especially when she was weirding everybody out and charming them at the same time. And before he knew it, months passed by and his plan had been delayed... not that he was in any rush since he was basically immortal. In any case, he thought that it was finally time to take the plan into action.

He had seen that boy before and he knew immediately that he will also be an interesting human to watch, too. After seeing the two's interaction, he could sense that something changed within the boy and he needed to act soon if he wanted to ease his boredom in the best possible way.

He stared at his companion who was watching the human world with interest. Ryuk grinned.

Maybe he didn't need to steal it from Sidoh after all.

"Oi, Sidoh."

"What?" the mummy asked without taking his bulging eyes off the shining circular orb. Ryuk muffled a cackle of excitement.

"Want to see something interesting?"

…

TOKYO

On the back seat of one of the most expensive cars in the world sat Lawliette, who was staring at the window quite amused at the turn of events. Well, sort of. If only her adoptive father wasn't beside her nagging her how dangerous it was.

She let his words enter her left ear and immediately let them out on the right. As the car ran, they passed through that huge television screen from earlier and heard the sad news. She even read on a displayed paper about unsolved cases like 10-year anniversaries of kidnapped children.

She wondered why she stopped pursuing this course of action…

"Watari-san…"

"Have you even heard anything I said?" The old man asked and she ignored him, wanting to jump to the point.

"Do you remember that case I helped in back in America?"

"That 'dynasty'-long corruption case?" he uttered recalling that he had no idea she took such a case. She was experimenting on one of her inventions and somehow she managed to catch a certain case only the FBI knew about. Somehow, despite her masked voice and her cyber connection with them, she earned their trust. He did not know the details, but he forbade her (vehemently) from doing it again.

That sole question alone was enough to tell him what she wanted. And she was almost 18. He prepared himself for the worst.

"Well, I want to be a detective."

*Meanwhile*

It was past dinner now, and his mother had messaged him. Light said he was going to be late, and he was still full considering he just ate. In any case, he continued to walk trying to keep his mind blank.

He was not used to thinking of such trivial things like thinking of casual conversations. His brain was always of thinking of something, but not something normal people thought about on a daily basis. But then he halted his steps, once again ending up in front of the television where they bumped into each other earlier that night.

He watched passively.

'_Humans are truly dirty creatures…'_ he mused pushing the image of the girl aside. He continued his stroll, and moments later- as he passed by an empty narrow street on the way home, he saw something drop from above. He whipped his head immediately to it and he batted an incredulous eyelid.

Did a notebook just fall out of the sky?

He frowned and shook that possibility aside for a while. He shifted his gaze at the possible points where it came. There were windows, of course, but there were no building tall enough for the notebook to have such an angle of fall. He sighed and gestured pick it up.

For what seemed like an hour– time slowed down. It was as if he was on a movie and he was approaching something that would change the events of his life forever.

He sighed- he must have been really tired.

He held it at chest-level, he looked up to the apartments to see if any windows were open. There was none. He shook his head as he glared at the note.

There were a lot of things happening that day that he could not yet explain.

He continued to stare at the notebook. "Death Note" was in its cover and he found himself scoffing at the nonsense people waste their time on. He opened it out of curiosity and saw a set of rules on how to 'kill using the notebook'. It was amusing how much effort idiots could give for such useless things…

"_The human whose name is written in this note shall die._"

"_This note will not take effect unless the writer has the subject's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected._"

"_If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the subject's name, it will happen. _"

"_If the cause of death is not specified, the subject will simply die of a heart attack._"

'_After writing the cause of death, the details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds ."_

For some odd reason, he kept reading… it's like the notebook had its charm, which Light didn't read too much into considering that it really was well-made. In any case, he brought it with him. He thought it was preposterous, but he still did. He _tried _to leave it where he found it but the notebook had a magnetic quality that made a person want to at least try. It's probably because of its quality that made people curious.

As he walked, he passed by a television shop and saw a live footage of hostage taking.

'_Maybe-'_

He scoffed at himself for thinking like that. Like hell it would work, but at least he could get it over with. They showed the name and the face of the suspect.

He looked away nonchalantly in ponder. Maybe that was it; he was too preoccupied by how filthy humans were that he unconsciously wanted to try out every possible way to clean it up. Apparently, much to his chagrin, that it included believing in some idiot's past time.

'_Get it over with, Light.'_ He mused grimly and took the notebook out to write the man's name. Almost 40 seconds were up and he felt like laughing at himself. But then he was in the middle of the street so he stopped himself from doing so. He gestured to continue walking wh-

"W-What is this new development? The hostages are freed? Wh-at? According to them… the man suddenly screamed in pain and clenched his chest! W-"

Time stopped.

He could not hear anything afterwards. His mind went blank and he continued to striding along the streets in panic. And if... by some chance this is all real- then he had become a murderer.

He continued his steps trying to maintain as much composure as he could. He just ki- No. That couldn't be right. It must have been a coincidence. A highly unlikely one yes, but not impossible. What's really impossible was killing someone just by writing their name.

"My name is Shibuima Takuo, and I am the most awesome person alive –right guys?" A noisy asshole from the other side of the street yelled proudly with his gang, as they surrounded a woman. At the moment, Light was in one of the worst mood he had ever had. Combine that with fear and panic, and-

He shook his head. _'Calm down, Light. This is not like you.'_

He then paused his steps for a second and watched them gang up on the woman, who was too scared to scream. If he was going to test the notebook out, this was the best chance in that context. He mentally nodded.

He decided he needed more proof.

He looked around and saw a bookstore, and came up with a plan. It would be odd, after all, to write in the middle of the street. Also if by some utter… miracle it _did_ work, he was not willing to be in the scene of the crime.

Once inside, he opened a magazine and placed the notebook inside. He wrote the name of the guy as he stared at him and wrote the cause of death, to make it more specific. He looked at his clock and sardonically looked at his half-reflection on the glass wall as he did so.

He watched with twisted interest as the events unfold, despite his outward stoic appearance. He watched the girl escape from the man's grasp and watched her run across the street. The maniac jumped to his motorcycle to follow h-

_**CRASH**__!_

A truck hit the motorcycle head on…

Light's head whipped to the notebook and stared at it in a mix of disbelief, shock… and amusement.

_The Death Note was real._

He smirked.

'_Perfect.'_

…

NISPEDANA HOTEL

On a first-class hotel room in one of Tokyo's most famous five-star hotel lived the Young Mukahi. Reserved rooms adjacent to hers were her bodyguards and other servants that her father had sent to live with her. It was a surprise, really, that he suddenly decided to visit her when she had barely even been there a week.

And the old man certainly wasn't expecting her to want the job that he tried so hard keeping from her: Becoming a detective.

"Why, all of a sudden?" Watari asked, despite knowing the answer.

"What do you mean? I asked you a million times as a child…"

"Yes, but I thought you have forgotten…"

"Well, I'm almost of age and I will choose the job I want. Why not start earlier?"

Watari looked away in ponder.

It was ironic that, being a fan of Sherlock Holmes, he founded the Wammy house because he wanted to raise the world's greatest detective. But after what happened to the two children he raised before Lawliette… he vowed never to show her that world.

But it was an impossible task, and she was definitely proving that- that determined look on her eyes told him that there was nothing he could do about it. He could only pray that she would be much _much_ stronger than her predecessors. He sighed in defeat.

"Very well…"

...

*One week later*

MAIN LIBRARY

For the past week Light had been spending his free time at a corner in the library. He studied, of course, but he was doing something much more interesting than that– killing criminals. He hadn't been to that side of the school for a while now, and for a moment he considered walking there but shook the idea away immediately. She chose to go there obviously because she wanted to be alone, and he did too.

He sighed at the trivial things that were popping onto his head, he should not be thinking such things because he was becoming the god of a world he was going to create.

"It's unusual to see you looking as if you have some sort of conflict while writing people's names, ne, Light." Ryuk, an annoying Shinigami, commented out-of-nowhere. He had suddenly appeared to his life a few days ago stating that he dropped the notebook into the human world at random since he was bored of the Shinigami Realm. He had been quite impressed with the work that he had done, not that Light cared. And Light being Light, he asked what the consequences of using the notebook would be.

"_Nothing. It's just that when you die, you will neither to Heaven nor to Hell." _

_That sounded fine, and he asked an afterthought. "Even if I give up the ownership and forget everything about the note?" He never planned on doing that absurd idea, but he always wanted to know all details._

"_Yep."_

"_Fine by me."_

And that was how their relationship had begun._  
_

TODAI REAR GARDEN

Lawliette sat in her usual sitting position, the Seiza, as she ate with her two new acquaintances– Takada and Rokko. She knew them by face and name, but it was the day before when she had a conversation with them. She was walking to her spot when she saw the two looking inconspicuously around.

During these past few days where she had been exposed to so many crimes, more possibilities had been available for her to consider. In the end though, when it came to whatever Takada and Rokko were planning on doing… she remained oblivious. She deduced that, like her, they were looking for a quiet spot to eat.

"Oh wow. Your bento still tastes great! My lunch compares to nothing… and are you sure you're okay with this Mukahi-san?" Takada asked as she took one dish from Lawliette's ever growing Bento box. There were healthy food there of course, but the container for the desserts was actually much bigger.

"So the huge guy that was here was your bodyguard or your chef?" Rokko asked recalling that their picnic spot had already been set up when they came.

"Both. He's a versatile old man."

"Ah…" they uttered, and somewhat watched her chew her food. They flinched when she looked back at them as if she just remembered something.

She quickly swallowed her food. "Have you seen Yagami-kun lately?"

"Why do you ask?" Takada asked with an expression that Lawliette knew was a mix of curiosity and irritation. Rokko had the full latter expression, though.

"I don't understand what I might have said to offend the two of you." She stated bluntly and ate a cake, consequently making the two blush.

Hm… she recalled the one of the three supposedly unsolvable cases she closed involved a love triangle. Was that it? When she looked at it this way, she was quite relieved that she was exposed to such crimes. At least she was able to consider a lot more possibilities than before.

But still, a part of her finally understood why her father did not want her to be a detective. But it was what she wanted, and she did not regret the decision.

She shrugged, and continued savoring her cake.

…

Quillsh Wammy sat by the twin of the laptop that was specifically used by Lawliette for the cases. He was sitting at a comfortable chair of his private jet. He was on his way to the ICPO meeting, and wanted to personally state that L was working on this case. It had been a week since she started working and she had already solved four well-known and unsolved cases, immediately earning herself a good reputation.

They hid their identities, of course, for safety. But in the end, the personal effects of the cases to both of them were irreversible. He massaged his head at the recollection.

_The first case he introduced to her was a 7-year old kidnapping case. It had been the lightest of the plethora of unsolved cases that he knew, for the child was murdered painlessly. As he watched her read the data, he prayed hard that she was as strong as he hoped her to be. He would die if she became the same as Beyond and Alluka. Especially Alluka…_

"_Watari-san"_

"_Yes?"_

"_I would appreciate it if you would stop looking at me like I'm a fragile vase."_

"…"

"_I would need some time alone." She asked politely and he did just that._

_The next day, he entered her room and saw that she had already solved two cases and she fell asleep as she sat. Or so he thought._

_She was in fetal position and was using her scarf as some sort of pillow as she stared blankly at the monitor's screen, crying her eyes out. Watari frowned. She was too sympathetic– even for a woman, and that was already saying something._

_She would empathize with the victims too deeply._

"_You should be more objective and disinterested in this L."_

_Lawliette stared at him comprehendingly. "I refuse."_

"_But inputing emotions in cases-"_

"_Should be fine as long as I see the _facts_ objectively… I don't see what's so bad in giving life to the victims. If I didn't– I would not see much reason why I am doing this in the first place."_

_He shook his head. The meaning of solving cases was to stop the culprit from doing the same thing again as well as bringing peace to the victim's loved ones. Lawliette knew that, of course, but Lawliette also believed that the victims shouldn't be seen as some sort of objects for investigation._

_Watari frowned and patted her back. _"_What is bad is that _you_ go through hell, child."_

"_I will get over it. They will not." she said with finality, and he walked away. There was no way to stop that child.  
_

_He watched her torture herself as she solved the cases nobody else could. He could see that she's changing perceptions at a rapid rate. He could see that she was starting to see the world as it was- But it wasn't until the latest case, that he saw the most drastic change._

_She was going to be much, much more aggressive in solving this one._

_He saw it in her eyes. _

_She despised Kira.  
_

…

Meanwhile, back at the university, Lawliette continued to awe the two with her sweet tooth.

"Aren't you scared you'd get fat?"

"Why?" she asked casually silencing Takada. But then looking at her– wearing dull clothes, the same scarf, and barely combing her hair, she should not have asked.

Out of curiosity, Takada brought out her brush and showed it to them.

"I know what that is, Takada-san, if that's what you're asking." Takada laughed, and Rokko joined in.

"I'm asking permission to comb your hair." She said eying her head, and then shifting to her ever-growing eyebags.

"Why?"

"Because it can be quite uncomfortable to look at." She stated firmly, leaving Lawliette to ponder as she ate and Takada comb her hair. She mused how the people who looked at her may feel uncomfortable as if they have her mass of hair.

Maybe she should try combing a little more often…?

She felt her head tilt backwards a bit and heard a snap. A moment of silence passed and was broken by Rokko's laugh.

"Dear G- what pfft—AHAHHAHAHAH!"

"Your hair broke my expensive brush…"

She turned around and looked at the woman apologetically. "Oh. How much is that? I'll-"

"No, No. It's fine." Takada said blinking at her. Lawliette was actually quite pretty (despite her eyebags), and she looked at Rokko to see what he thought. His gape was enough to tell her he was more than interested.

Takada sighed mentally. It seemed that her little fling with Rokko might end soon. It didn't really matter though since, despite playing hard to get, she could date any guy who she deemed were worthy of her. And at the top of the list was Light.

Then she wondered what was with him lately. He still did a great job at school but he became more… stoic than usual. This made her want to watch him even more and she started noticing things. She caught him taking glimpses of this little girl in front of her eating so many cakes so casually.

She willed herself to conclude that Light thought of her as a good rival and was just interested in what she does in that way.

"Itte…" Lawliette uttered with her usual low voice. It was practically monotonous so people who didn't know her would thing she was just chanting random words.

"Gomen." She said realizing that her mind flew and she accidentally pulled her hair. She let out a deep breath until Lawliette's hair became... close to normal.

She finally reached her cause ten tedious minutes later. Takada moved back to her position and really saw how much potential Lawliette had to become gorgeous. Not as gorgeous as_ her_, but _she_ was incomparable.

"Lawliette-san, you would look wonderful in a slightly more colourful dress." Rokko commented with that shameless stare of his.

"You can tell?"

"Yes. Ne, want to go out somet-"

_DING DONG!_

Lawliette's companions stiffened._  
_

"O-Oi, it's already 1pm, we're going to be late!"

Rokko waved his hand. "Ja. See you later!"

And Lawliette passively watched them run. She still had an hour to go before her next class, and she was thinking of cutting that one. She barely learned anything new in school anyway since she learned most of them at home or by experience. She wanted badly to go home and check the progress before she spoke live at the ICPO meeting.

She ran the events of the past week through her head. She wanted to focus on the cases, but somehow Yagami had been appearing here and there as well. Like her, something had changed within him but she couldn't bring herself to bring it up. It might be highly personal, and she did not want to offend him-

She shook her head and willed herself to focus on the cases.

The cases…

She felt a sheet of sadness pass through her again…

_How could people do that to each other?_

That was one of the main questions that had been running through her head over and over again. She had always felt other people's pain, so she couldn't truly understand why some people couldn't. Of course, she was aware of the disease that people had causing them to lose all empathy but actually stepping onto their shoes was a totally different thing.

Through the days, she had felt something slowly weigh on her shoulders… and case by case, it grew. She couldn't stop herself from identifying with the victims, but she found her methods slowly become bolder and bolder. She had come to realize that sympathizing with everyone would not solve the case.

That kind of mentality started when she encountered one particular case. She could feel it as she read the report– the heartlessness of the person behind each murder. As if he saw human lives as objects he could play around with. Normal culprits would still feel even a bit of conscience as they killed. But this person was different– he was taking lives as if he was just literally sweeping dirt. She could feel it.

_Unforgivable._

And she did not know whether she would feel relieved or not that like her... he was also in Japan.

And Lawliette swore that she was going to bring him to his execution no matter what.

.

.

**END OF CHAPTER 3**

_**Coming Soon:  
**_**CHAPTER 4: Confrontations**

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**...**

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**Replies to Angels:  
**

**Eadha Ohn- **That's a good guess~! But, he didn't have the death note there yet so he's like a bored Yotsuba-arc Light until Chapter 2. (:D Nice line you made there, by the way! Thanks for the comment~

**Symbalin-** Kabayan! haha. Thank you so much for the review! I hope you continue liking the succeeding installments for this story! Tehee. XD

**Lady Ruruoni- **I will, I will~! I just hope I could do it fast enough. Ghahah. Thanks for the comment~!

**pudding-in-a-cup a.k.a. anon- **haha. Thanks for the reviews! I am very happy you thought so. :D I hope you continue liking this~!

**KiyUzumaki- **Thank you for the review! I'm relieved to hear that, too. XDD

**Akela Victoire- **Lol. You just finished watching the anime, right? XD I'm glad you liked this! Thank you for the review~

**CelestialxXxAngel - **Thanks for the reviews~! And here's an update!~!

**Dzuljeta- **I'm glad~ XD Thanks for the review!

**mai-chan265- **I fixed those mistakes you pointed out! Thanks~ XD And No! I will never ever ever kill L! In this story, anyway. Lololol. We already talked about that scarf. haha. Thanks for the review~!

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Thank you for reading!

I would feel very blessed if you


	4. Confrontations

**Thank you for reading! Especially those who reviewed, fave'ed, subscribed, and C2d this story! Thank you sooo much~! **Ah! When you find he time, check out my profile once in a while, okay? It would be awesome if you got interested in my other works, story or fanart... hehe**  
**

**DISCLAIMER: ** I WISH I own Death Note

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**...**

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**CHAPTER 4: Confrontations**

YAGAMI RESIDENCE

A random dog howled as he was chained in his wooden dwelling. Another one followed his lead as if they were communicating. The sun had just gone down in Japan, the land of the rising sun, and for some reason the night had been darker than usual.

Light lied down on his bed immediately after proceeding to his meticulous bedroom. As he lay, he stared at the ceiling for a while... and Ryuk- being ever so curious- followed his line of sight.

"What are we lookin' at again?"

Light did not respond.

"Oi. Light."

"You've been like that since you saw them." Ryuk commented a few hours prior when Light went for a 'walk' (as he said it) and saw _her_ with Takeda and Rokko… looking as if she was having 'fun'. Light frowned at his irritating Shinigami.

"Shut up, Ryuk."

The Death god shrugged and a moment later, Light sat up firmly- only to stand up and go straight to writing names on the notebook again.

"You sure are busy Light."

"I am. Gods are supposed to be busy."

"Ehh…"

"Here, let me show you something." Light said confidently and opened his screen. And told him something about how humans maintain a public façade – a façade that would not accept _his _existence. But he showed them all the encouraging posts on websites made just for him.

"They could feel it Ryuk- the hand of god reaching out to the criminals and killing them... passing judgement."

"Cool." He commented and, as if on cue, the door knob turned.

"Ara? Nii-san? Why is the door locked?" It was his sister, Sayu. He sighed ay the successive clicking of the doorknob, as if it was going to open like that. He asked what she needed and told him she needed help with her Math homework. And of course being the perfect brother that he was, he didn't refuse.

But then Ryuk muttered that anyone who touched the note would see him too, and this made Light want to punch him. Why the heck didn't he say so sooner? Light grimaced.

'_Damned Death god.'_

*An hour later*

"FINALLY DONE~! YEIY!"

Sayu squealed and stretched her arms as if she did all the work. Light sighed and stared at the book. He worry about his sister sometimes, she should be doing much better than this in school. She was carrying the Yagami name, after all.

"Arigatou nii-san!" she yelled giving him a bear hug. "And I think dinner's ready."

He chuckled, hiding the slight disappointment he was feeling for his sister's predispositions.

"Hai, Hai."

* * *

Lawliette stared at her computer that had her Alias overarching the whole screen. She let out a deep breath as she waited for the broadcast to finally play. Millions of people including her, and h-hopefully Kira were watching this live. She stared at the professional-looking man sit confidently behind the table.

She felt bad about using him as bait, but she chose him because of the fact that he was going to be executed right this time, and extending his life by a few days was not supposed to be bad. If he wasn't, she probably would have chose another inmate and maybe changed his name. It was stupid on her part to consider something like that, but she couldn't do it: Nonchalantly sacrificing people's lives. Criminal or not.

But in the end, this was the best choice she had and it was not... bad. She even lengthened this criminal's life span and somewhat made him (without his consent) help with the greater good.

That's right... this was the best choice.

So… what was that ominous feeling that she was having?

_Tick Tock Tick Tock_

What the... It was weird how she was suddenly hearing such onomatopoeia when there was not one analog clock in that room. She watched the man speak confidently, as she instructed him to. And then her mental clock started acting-up again, time was slowing down- as if there was something bad going to happen soon.

Her worst case scenario... was it going to happen?

_**BAM!**_

The next thing she knew, he dropped dead on the table.

And so... in less than a minute after Lind L. Tailor finished the heart-felt speech that _she_ made, he had undergone cardiac arrest. She felt as if she had been slapped hard- just like that- and Watari had to shake her crazily for her to catch her composure.

She tried to hide all emotions away for a while and opened her mic. She monotonously stated her trap -that she now knew what he could do and where he was- and even sent out a challenge to prove her theory. It was unbelievable how she could say such objective things despite all the emotions that flowed through her. It- no, _everything-_ was becoming utterly absurd. She definitely considered the fact that this b-bastard could kill without touching them... but actually seeing the person _die _was beyond her.

She looked at herself, sardonically.

Why was she even doing this when she obviously couldn't handle all the consequences?

She shook her head and told herself that she had planned (and chose) this. Maybe she hoped it would not work, but it did and there was no turning back. Someone died like this because of her actions, it was time to make sure it did not go to waste.

She let out a deep, deep breath to calm down. She needed to lay out her data and theory smoothly. But something else simply wouldn't stop poking her right in the chest.

It was official – Kira was in Tokyo, with her.

And she wasn't sure if she'll be able to walk on the ground again.

...

_**SLAM!**_

Light's fist found itself getting slammed on his desk in his anger. He glared at the television and gritted his teeth. He, Light Yagami, had never felt so... _humiliated_ in his entire life!

Not only did he deduce that he was in Kantou and that he could kill without being near the victim... but that bastard L had called him _evil_ when he was obviously the only true JUSTICE left in the world. He was going to be a _god_, and that hypocritical piece of crap who was trying to stop him was the truly EVIL one.

There was something in that person's voice that disconcerted him in a different way, but at the moment he didn't care. The bastard was taunting him to kill him, but not knowing anything about him rendered Light unable to do so.

"It seems that for some reason he cannot kill me."

_Bastard_

Light continued to send daggers to the television and listened to this L as he stated that he would soon send him to his execution for certain.

Light laughed at the stupidity of the synthetic voice that echoed the whole region. Light was sure he was not going to lose to anyone– especially not to this devil.

He was going to find him, and kill him with his own hands.

* * *

TODAI

A few days had passed since then and Lawliette felt extremely strained. She had been working with the Japanese Police Force since then and a lot of people seemed to have nothing to do but pretend to know something about Kira or _be_ Kira. She frowned at the fact that so many people were dying every day.

She had told them the possibility that the culprit might be a student. It surprised them, but she told them firmly never to be biased. They had to consider all possibilities to capture this person. It was sad and she would rather not admit it, but her opponent this time was extremely intelligent. She had not handled a lot of cases, but she knew this would be the hardest one she would ever take.

She had been especially quiet during their lunch, and she knew the two could sense her troubles. Obviously, she didn't tell them anything and she just ensured them that she was fine and there was no need to worry. They left earlier again that day and she decided to walk around for a change.

A change. She wondered when she would be able to stop these killings and maybe killings in general. A little part of her, of course, understood that what he was doing really diminished the crime rates. But an even bigger part of her knew that it was not a solution. Taking a life never was.

It was repeating an evil cycle that would never end.

She felt so tired… and before she knew it, she ended up in the library. Maybe she went there so she could sleep nicely on a desk. But as she looked for an isolated spot, her movement stopped. She saw Yagami writing vehemently and wearing that especially serious face that she had seen him wear more often than she would have liked.

He didn't seem as strained as before though, it felt as if he had let go of something she did not understand yet. But she did not like it; she knew that this was not really the Yagami Light that she had been interested in.

"Yagami-kun." She called and smiled and ignored the fact that he closed his notebook in an odd way. It was as if he was _acting_ that he was just nonchalantly closing and hiding his notebook when she could feel the abruptness of it all.

She wasn't able to pry though, she was too tired.

"Ryuzaki-san…? What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for a place to sleep…" she stated and stared at the empty seat beside him. Light caught this cue and gestured for her to sit down and told her to get some rest.

"Your eyebags had evolved. What the heck are you even doing at night?" Light said in an almost joking way that refreshed him somehow. It had been more than a week since he actually spoke to her, hadn't he?

"This and that." She smiled, and Light knew she was hiding something. He stared at that depressed state her eyes were showing so bluntly. He frowned. Was she okay?

But he did not utter a single word of the question and decided to make his usual snide comments. "You could at least answer my question."

She stared at him with those deep dark eyes of hers making him flinch, again. He saw them flicker with tiredness and he let out an amused smile. She smiled at him weakly, and he just listened to her talk herself to sleep. "I'll.. think abou… just wake me up… for…t..he…next…c..la…Zzzz"

Light smirked at the sight and arranged her hair so that she could breathe properly.

He had just finished writing the names of the criminals and timed their deaths one hour apart to send a challenge to this _L_. He was not to be underestimated. And in two days, they should be fairly certain about this fact and L would suspect his only allies.

In any case, he had all the time in the world to relax for a while as he waited for things to unfold.

He continued to stare at the figure sitting beside him, sleeping peacefully. He wondered what she was doing to her health. She might get sick soon enough an- Why did he even care? It's not like she'd die of sleep deprivation…

"Ehh, Light, you look like a normal school boy when you're like that." Ryuk commented with a cackle. Light didn't answer, both because he didn't notice what he was doing, and second was that he might wake her up by answering to that damned Shinigami.

He sighed and opened one of his school books to study. They did not have classes for their Asian History class, she skipped that class the previous session so she probably wouldn't know. It wasn't like her to skip classes, and he didn't know what could be happening to her.

He placed his elbow on the surface and rested his cheek on his palm as he continued to watch her. Why was he so worried about her? She's a grown girl now and she could take care of herself…

And to think they haven't spoken for so long…

Maybe because he thought of her as a rival now? That must be it – things would be less interesting without a good rival, after all.

And for what seemed like only moments later, he looked at the clock and he flinched instantaneously. It had already been an hour? He accidentally hit a book in surprise and dropped it to the floor, effectively waking Lawliette up. She stared at him and he cleared his throat.

"About time you woke up."

"How long?" she asked lethargically.

"More than an hour…"

"Ah?" her eyes widened immediately making Light want to chuckle. "I'm going to be late."

She frowned and gaped at him. "Aren't we classmates?"

"We are."

"Then why-"

"We don't have classes. If you didn't skip classes maybe you will know."

"Ah.."

"Why did you skip? You may lose your spot."

"I won't. Maybe. I don't know." She shrugged and then shifted her gaze to him inquisitively making him wince under it. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You seem… different."

"I don't see how…" he paused. "_You're _the one who seems stressed out."

She looked at the table, suddenly deep in thought.

"What's wrong?" He asked. But he couldn't believe that he was genuinely eager to ask…

Silence ensued for a while and Light stared. She was thinking of something complicated, wasn't she? He wanted to hear it (just out of curiosity, of course), so he patiently waited for her to speak.

"I just found out... several days ago that the world-" She sighed. "...was much worse than I thought it was."

She stared at her clenched fist over the table top, not noticing Light's gape. An odd sense of glee surrounded him, but he kept it contained. He wanted to punch Ryuk for snickering so loudly.

"So..." he intervened and decided to be blunt. "What do you think of Kira?" He knew she'd be honest with him and she won't say fake like 'Kira is an evil perso-

"Kira is evil."

He unconsciously clenched his fist, and now that Ryuk was not stifling his laughter he swore that if he wasn't as stoic as he was he would have punched the Shinigami already.

She whipped her head to him. "Yagami-kun?"

"I'm disappointed that you are like many other people who make politically-correct answers." He whispered. "I thought you were different." He said everything in a condescending tone of voice. He didn't know why he said them but he meant it. He knew he had a problem keeping his public façade around _her_ but this was just too m-

His heart skipped a beat when he saw that he had hurt her. She was looking at him with a mix of confusion and sadness.

"I d-didn't mean t-"

"Yes, you did. Yagami-kun." She said sternly making him freeze, seemingly unable to shake off the hurt expression in her face.

"And I really did mean that. Eradicating evil with evil is an impossible task."

He frowned and forced himself to shake away whatever emotions other than irritation he was feeling.

"Isn't that too close minded?"

"No. What about you? You sound as if you approve of his methods."

"I… I can't say I approve of it. It is just that what he was doing really is making the world a b-"

"He's not. He's using human lives as if they're toys he can play around with to make himself feel like a god."

He glowered at her. But why was it that when _she _said it, it didn't just offend him… it sent him a wave of despair as well.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because no one would take another's life for granted if he truly sees them as human beings."

"That's idiotically idealistic. You said so _yourself_ that the world is a dirty place."

"Yes, but it can be changed."

"How? Other methods will not work."

"But please don't give up hope. Humans are intrinsically good."

"Yeah. Not this preaching t-" he was cut off by her, placing her hand on his cheeks. He pushed away any sort of shyness and embarrassment and glee that surged inside him, and glared.

"Don't touch me." He stated but she did not let go. He didn't force her hand away, either.

"Those are dangerous thoughts, Light. You are a human being as well, please don't give up on it."

He turned away from her. "I'm not. I'm just stating the facts." And she frowned.

"Why do you act as if _you're_ Kira?" She asked but before he can react, she smiled, catching him by surprise.

_Did she-_

"I know you're not him of course." She stated sternly and confidently as she looked at him straight to the eyes, making his crazily throbbing heart to stop. She then grinned as if she just said a very funny joke, while he just felt his gaze soften… and he realized that he no longer had energy to show her anything else.

'_Did she really mean that?'_ he asked himself in incredulity, and tried his best not to give anything away.

If she did, how could she have so much faith in him when he already said so many things?

He did not understand this girl, not at all…

Mukahi Lawliette was truly the only person he could not read. She was making him doubt his actions, too, despite being so sure of himself in the past…

But most importantly?

She was making him feel human again- despite the fact that he was aiming to be a _god_.

And that was definitely not a good thing.

…

NISPEDANA

Lawliette had suspected for a while now that Kira had some sort of connection with the police force, as he had already found classified conclusions. She immediately asked Watari for the complete information on all of the officers involved in the case as well as their close relatives'.

She knew that this was a risky move – a move that Kira had obviously planned for her to take. But even if she knew this, as much as she didn't want to admit it- and despite not wanting to submit to what he wanted- she did not have any choice. It pained her that she could not fully trust the people who believed her as an ally, but she had to deal with it for a while.

Then someone knocked at the door twice and upon her call, it opened, shedding a bit of light to her dark room. She narrowed her eyes, unable to adjust to the light, and Watari closed it immediately before asking how she was faring. She nodded and told him she was doing well.

Watari gave tall pile of paper about a meter tall. But unlike most people, she did not even wince. The plethora blueprints and plans she had been exposed to were much much more intimidating. She nonchalantly skimmed through it, and at the same time she dialled the phone to talk to the superintendent of the FBI. As she listened to the rings, her eyes met Watari's and he nodded in understading. The old man then left the room and leave her to the most comfortable setting she could ask for: A dark room with her laptop as the sole source of light.

It was like she was in the zone like that – during those times, her world was her laptop, and subsequently the cases and the people involved in them.

Soon the phone connected and she assumed a professional air once again, something that was getting easier every opened her mouth to speak with the highest ranking officer in the FBI.

She had only solved 3 cases with them, but the old man seemed to have put quite a bit of trust in her already. Despite the fact that she kept her identity secret from anyone. She did not want to take advantage of his power yet... but at the moment they were the only ones who could help her. After a few formalities, she finally jumped to the point.

"I'd like to confirm if the agents are here now in Japan?" she said, still particularly creeped out by the computer-generated voice over the phone that night.

"Hai. Some of them should already be working, in fact."

"Oh? I'm impressed."

"Thank you and I hope we will be of great help in ending Kira's monstrosities."

"I'm sure you will. And thank you for your time." She said to the nice old man, and hung up.

There it was again. Her intuition nagging her about something ominous.

She shook that feeling again, there was no use trying to abide by it. She had conditioned herself to the fact that there _would_ be sacrifices no matter how hard she tried. But she could only do this because she believed that these people had taken the job because they wanted justice in the world– and were willing to risk their lives for it.

It was a hard thing to swallow, especially within just a few days. But Kira was too powerful – she couldn't afford to waver any longer. She had to accept the fact that it was beyond her abilities to keep everyone from dying.

But she was certainly going to do her best.

She let out a deep breath and placed the paper she had already finished reading to her side and grabbed another set. She skimmed and skimmed, remembering the basic details of each one.

Then she abruptly stopped with her hands shaking crazily and sweating buckets. She stopped at the superintendent's picture. She was surprised considering everyone called him chief, and she did too. She knew it was hard to trust someone like her who would not even dare show her face so she at least wanted them to feel that she was human, too… that they could relate to her.

She knew it was barely working but it was still worth a try.

She knew the chief's of his name, of course, but the chances that he was related to _him_ were pretty slim. So she stared blankly at the paper.

Yagami Suichiro.

_Yagami._

She looked at the list of relatives and there he was- Son: Yagami Light.

She chuckled awkwardly.

What were the chances? Poor Light, circumstances seemed to be forcing her to suspect him.

But she wouldn't, of course. Light was her friend and she knew he was a good guy despite his huge ego, superiority complex, and a strong but might be misplaced sense of justice.

But he wouldn't actually take a life.

That's right.

Lawliette believed in Light.

.  
.

**END OF CHAPTER 4**

_**Coming Soon:  
**_**CHAPTER 5: Dates**

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**REPLIES TO ANGELS:**

**symbalin-**Thank you for the review~! XXDD I'm glad you thought so! And I noticed you're barely 3 months old here? Welcome to ! haha**  
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**pudding-in-a-cup -** **(ch3)**I'm happy you thoughts so~! And yeah, Light has competition alright. LOL And thanks for the review, btw. :D  
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**Dzuljeta-** **(ch2) **Ahaha. I'm glad to hear that~ C: **(Ch3) **And getting harder to write, too. LOL. But still fun. XD Thank you for the reviews!

**bbymojo- **Yeah, I thought something big needed to change for er... Light. XD It's hard to do romance (for me) if she wasn't as well. Thank you for the review~!**  
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**mm811- **That's great! Hope you liked them, too, but I won't be surprised if you didn't though. XD Thanks for the review!**  
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**mai-chan265 - **Ahaha. I'm trying to do self-inserts here an there. LOL. Hope you didn't get disappointing with this chap but you can tell me what you really thought. XD Thx for the review!**  
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**Shakespeare's Lemonade- **C'mon, watch the whole thing already! lol. Why did you stop on the pilot episode? WHYY! haha. Thx for the review~**  
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**dualitys-end- **I'm so sorry for the late update! Hope y' liked this chap. And thank you for the review! :D

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Thank you for reading!**  
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Please consider pausing for a moment and comment below. I would loveee to hear your thoughts!


	5. Dates

I'm so so SO sorry for being so slow! Especially since this is one of my best supported stories, I feel especially guilty for not updating as quick as my other main stories. Death Note's kinda not in my comfort zone, you see. T_T All I could do now is to thank everyone for reading this far. Especially those who showed their support by reviewing, fav'ing, subscribing, and C2ing this story. THANK YOU THANK YOU THAANNNKK YOOUU!**  
**

**DISCLAIMER: ** I WISH I own Death Note

* * *

**...**

* * *

**CHAPTER 5: Dates**

Light honestly didn't know what to do. He wasn't sure if he should avoid her since she was a dangerous companion, or befriend her since doing the former would just raise suspicion. He honestly would prefer the latter, but he couldn't... place himself when he was around her.

No. He'll act as he normally would but in reality, he would be avoiding her. _He, _Yagami Light, _should_ be able to pull it off.

He frowned at himself.

_So, why didn't he want to?_

"Oi, Light."

"Liight."

"Oi, Liggggght!"

His eyes twitched.

"Nani? Didn't I tell you not to speak with me in public?" he hissed. What the hell was that shinigami's problem _now?_

And then much to his chagrin, Ryuk started muttering disclaimers that basically just meant he was not on anyone's side and he was just there to observe. Something was bothering him, he said, and whatever he was going to say to him was not uttered because he was on his side.

"Get to the point, will you?" he cut him off, not in the mood for his antics.

"Someone's following you."

_Silence_

His feet stopped by themselves and he tried to sense whoever was following him. The guy was good, and he did not like this feeling.

But in the end, the anxiety did not even bother him at all. It wasn't hard to remain cool and collected even under very suspicious circumstances such as this one.

Besides... at least he could forget about _her_ for a while.

**…**

Inside the room, Ryuk watched Light with blunt interest as he problematized his new shadow and forcibly shake thoughts of a certain girl away at the same time. He had been expecting something like this when he dropped the notebook, but then he knew whatever type of user Light would turn out to be it would be really interesting for him.

When he had finally got bored of watching Light think, he then told the human about the eye deal right after stating the two fundamental differences between humans and Shinigamis. It was actually very enticing – the deal. Despite the fact that it would half a person's lifespan, obtaining it would maximize the death note's efficiency. Light knew that, and for a moment Ryuk _thought_ he was considering it.

"That deal…" he said, apparently not in the mood to control his facial expression. "… is out of the question."

Ryuk blinked.

"Why?"

"I will be the god of the new world, Ryuk. And I will rule it for a long time."

"I see. I just wanted to tell you before you start whining about me not telling you the details."

Light scoffed, and replied coolly. "You should have told me that when we first met, Ryuk."

He laid on his bed and resumed staring at his ceiling. "So… do you have anything else to add?"

"No." _Probably._

Ryuk gestured to turn around when Light started speaking. It seemed like he couldn't keep quiet for a while since that girl Lawliette seemed to have great impact on him. He muttered something about he would have considered the deal if the eyes were wings instead. Things about how humans wanted to fly since ancient times.

Ryuk didn't speak for despite his antics, he was never dense. He might not be as smart as Light, but he could read most people pretty easily. From the tone and implications, it was obvious what Light was trying to do.

He was convincing himself that humans are inherently evil, as opposed to what Lawliette said.

"Then that would make you an even easier target for the police."

Light chuckled all of a sudden and sat up. "I was joking Ryuk. I don't think I'd want to be a Death god."

"You're actually a fine death god, Light. Compared to those lazy shinigamis at the realm. It is rotten, and I don't even know why it even exist."

"It sounds as if I'm just working much harder than all of them. Besides…" he said nonchalantly, as he scanned the notebook. "I am a human, and I'm doing this for the sake of other humans."

Ryuk blinked.

'_Didn't he just say he wanted to be the god of his new world?'_ he mused in slight puzzlement and then grinned.

'_Hehe… inconsistencies already, Light?'_

...

He was about to tease him about that last thought when the boy jolted up and sat back to his desk. He asked clarifications on the rules out-of-nowhere and started writing on his notebook.

"What are you doing?" Ryuk asked in pure curiosity, and Light grinned confidently.

"Setting up a trap to get my shadow's identity."

* * *

*The next day*

Light polished up his plan and begun looking at phone numbers on his phone. He needed someone to ask out so he could pretend to date her, a factor in his plan. He paused and looked for her name but then remembered a millisecond later he _never_ took her number. He frowned; a millisecond in Light's standard was pretty slow.

And more importantly, why did he think of _her_?

He shook his head and clicked on a number. He listened to the phone ring and answered Ryuk's inquiries at the same time.

"Hello?"

"Takeda-san?"

"Light?"

Yagami smiled. Really though, Takeda was the most natural option to ask out. Besides, despite her obvious pretensions to be reluctant he knew precisely what she felt for him.

Indeed, a girl that would follow his will.

A perfect chess piece.

**…**

They met at the bus stop 10:00 am. He looked inconspicuously with his peripheral view to ensure that his shadow was still there. And he was, knowing that whatever he would be doing would be useless if he wasn't.

"Ohayou, Light-kun." Takeda greeted in her usual confident way and held his arm. "You made me wait long."

'_Hell I did_.' He mused, he saw her earlier and she arrived a few minutes before he did. He sighed mentally, it was one of the reasons he dislike wo-

An image of Lawliette passed by and he frowned.

'_No. That girl is not a woman. She's an alien in a crazy girl's body.'_ He mused and proceeded in playing along with Takeda's antics.

"Ah. Gomen, gomen. I'll make it up to you once we get there." He said, and passively led her to the bus.

They sat near the back, and the man behind them. Takeda opened a few topics and he expanded them to make their date appear as natural as possible.

It somehow ended up in a very uncomfortable topic.

"Anyway…" she smiled, obviously going to tease him. "I thought you'd ask Ryuzaki-san out."

"Why would I?" he asked masking his surprise, and Takeda got the message that he did not even try.

That awkward moment when you tried to make a joke about something that didn't happen. She quickly rummaged her beautiful head for an excuse.

"I just thought that you two were… close, I guess."

"What makes you think that?" he responded almost leaking the uncharacteristic anticipation in his voice. He was lucky that Takeda did not sense it at all, as she was hoping that her intuition was wrong.

"I just thought that co-representatives become close… I suppose."

'_Well, that's an idiotic thing to say._' He mused, not sensing his disappointment.

Takeda looked at the window. "I wonder if we'll bump into them there in Space Land."

"Who?"

"Rokko and Ryuzaki-san."

* * *

Yagami Light went to Auto-pilot mode for the several minutes that came after. What was wrong with him? At least his huge brain was still working properly and he was still enticing a decent conversation with Takeda.

Lawliette and Rokko on a _date_? What was that even about?

He immediately pulled himself out of his trance when he heard the door open, revealing a very suspicious man around his 40s.

'_That's him!'_

And so his intricate plan begun.

**…**

Rey Penbar could not believe this was happening. He had just scratched the superintendent's son off the suspect list and he was just following him before he called it quits. Now, there was a hijacker threatening to shoot everyone on the bus if the authorities did not follow his demands.

Yagami Light also decided to be heroic and showed his date a note on whatever he was planning. He, of course, went against this and he reluctantly got talked into proving his innocence. Yagami was quick to suspect that he might be the hijacker's accomplice, and sadly it was logical that he thought that way.

Everything that came after that was a blur, really…

The man suddenly yelled manically in terror and begun shooting randomly. He appeared to be having strong and terrifying illusions and he jumped off the bus to escape from the monster in his mind. And as if a random car was waiting for him to jump off, it hit him head on a split second later.

For it was fortunate that no one else was hurt, this was nevertheless an incredibly bad day. He just witnessed an accident, saw liters of blood, and he might also jeopardize his mission.

He talked to Yagami about keeping quiet about his presence in Japan. He was a normal maybe over-achieving boy, and he trusted him. There should be no problem…

So what was the bad feeling that he was having?

A few weeks before his wedding, too.

**…**

Yagami Light could not believe his 'date'. He expected that like that FBI agent Penbar, she would also call it a day considering the events that came afterwards. He could really use a rest, too, and he was especially not in the mood to be outside after hearing that blasphemous news about his co-representative.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" He asked again, hoping badly that she had just bumped her head or something.

"No… I want to go to Space Land. I don't think they'll close down because of this."

_Darn it_

"Well, I'm tired. I don't think I can have any fun after witnessing such a freak accident." He said as he stared irritably at the bus stop's stand.

"But don't you think it is more appropriate to have fun, then? It is much easier to forget…"

_Darn it. _What was he supposed to say_ now_?

"That statement is subjective. I'm sorry I asked you out only to cancel on you, bu-"

"Come _on_ please?" She asked demurely but with volume loud enough for everyone to hear. He frowned mentally, he despised not being in control and she was using his established façade to get what she wanted.

But he was not a cold-blooded killer, though. So for now killing her was out of the question.

* * *

SPACELAND

On one of the city's leading amusement park walked Light and Takeda hand-in-hand. It had been two torturing rides since they had arrived and he could not refuse her in front of all these people. Takeda was a very good-looking woman that everybody, except for him, probably liked. And when she did that pleading stances, she made sure everyone was watching.

Light was _seriously_ considering killi-

"What are you doing?" He asked as he suddenly hugged him in the middle of the street. He heard curious murmurs and some 'what an adorable couple' statements and it annoyed him to no end. But Light, being light, he only appeared flustered – embarrassed and shy, in fact.

"You were so cool that time in the bus." She said as she separated her face from his chest but her hands were still around him.

"Thank you." He said sending her one of the most fake smile he had ever managed to muster. What the hell was she planning?

"So you two are officially going out?" A familiar voice from behind him asked teasingly, and they whipped their head to them. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of Lawliette waving casually at them in greeting. He reflexively went to push Takeda away but she had already separated to greet the two.

Light frowned. Did she saw them?

In the end, his sights ended up on the approaching Lawliette. She was still wearing that worn-out scarf of hers but she was also wearing an unusually colourful dress. She looked good… but that wasn't the issue. He stared at Rokko.

Did she dress differently because of _him_?

He hated the guy already.

"Yagami-kun. What a coincidence." She smiled and they politely shook hands. The other two walked to them and muttered something about how awesome it was to see each other there. But then Rokko placed his hand on Lawliette's shoulder and gestured that they would go.

"Nice seeing you guys, here!" he announced and Lawliette, much to Light's amusement, obviously didn't know why they were separating in the first place.

"Why are we-"

Rokko smiled fondly at her. Light seemed to have forgotten that Rokko was a top student, too. That meant he, unfortunately, was not that stupid.

"You agreed for a date, Lawliette, not a double date. Besides, those two obviously wanted time alone." He stated and Light's eye jerked at so many words he used in that statement. And since when did he start calling her by her first name?

"Thank you for your consideration, Rokko-kun." Takeda said grabbing one of his shoulders. She pulled him towards the opposite direction.

"Shall we, Light-kun?"

Lawliette and Light's eyes met for an instant.

They really wished those other two weren't there…

**…**

Rokko Hiru had unconsciously led Lawliette towards a section of the park that was relatively full of children's rides. He muttered an apology, telling her wasn't very familiar with the park when in fact he was too busy thinking of how disappointed she looked when he parted from the two. He knew there was some odd connection between her and Yagami, but still.

No, he was not in love with her. He was just interested. Who wouldn't? She was very unique, rich, and unexpectedly pretty too…

Those nice little expressions of happiness when they went to the park and the subsequent skipping heart beat had nothing to do with it.

Oh hell. Who was he kidding…

He blinked when she pulled the cloth of his sleeves to get his attention. Her eyes looked even more beaming as they entered and she pointed on a ride: Bump cars.

"Are you sure?" He asked. It was an extremely childish ride, but seeing her eyes beam of excitement-

"You don't want to?"

"I'm fine." He smiled reassuringly. "Shall we?"

"Okay." She said and they jumped in line.

The board say they have 30 minutes more to wait.

Oh well, Rokko did not mind at all.

"So you like this ride?"

"I don't know yet."

"Pardon?"

"I've never ridden it before."

"Why?" he asked incredulously. It is also possible that she wasn't _allowed_ for one reason or another due to some condition or something. He would not be responsible for getting her to trouble.

"I just didn't go out too much." She stated as if she just read his mind. He looked at her apologetically. Again.

"Why?"

"We just didn't find a good reason why I should."

"Ah…" he uttered,not quite sure how to take that yet. _How mysterious..._

And before they knew it, it was finally their turn to use the contraption.

**...**

_BUMP! THUMP! BUMP! BUMP!_

They got off the ride feeling slightly dizzy, but laughing anyway. In Lawliette's case though, it was a very quiet one but a very beautiful sight indeed. Rokko found himself staring at her.

"That was fun, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was-" he was cut off by his phone ringing.

"Moshi Moshi?" he answered coolly and he was absolutely not expecting that blasted nagging yells from the other side of the line.

"I'VE BEEN CALLING FOR SEVERAL MINUTES NOW! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED WE ARE HERE?"

"Geez. My date and I are alive and well, thank you for worrying. So what's the problem?" he asked and his eyes widened as his cousin told him the details. He looked at his date, who in turn tilted her head in worry.

" No way, Touta-aniki. There would be no reason to do that. We're fine. Ja."

"What was that about?" she asked staring at his phone. He had obviously hung up on whoever he was speaking with.

"That was just my cousin. He's a police officer, you see, and apparently there was this bus-jacking that happened less than an hour ago." He sighed. "Apparently it was a bus to here."

Lawliette's eyes widened and she immediately whipped her head towards the two's direction. "Do you think-"

"Either way, they look fine. Besides even if they were on the bus, the incident obviously got them closer together."

Her expression softened and she whispered, "I suppose."

"Ne, Lawliette." He called as he touched her palm gently. He wanted that worried look out of her face. It irked him every time she he just _knew _she was thinking about that just looked at him with that usual passive expression, waiting for him to continue.

"You like sweets, right?" he asked and she nodded. He actually looked forward to this.

"Then I know Space Land's very own bakery would _love_ to have you."

* * *

Meanwhile... Light stared blankly at the window of the Ferries Wheel. He took advantage of the momentary silence he had with Takeda since she _finally_ lost topics. She wasn't a nag, of course, she wasn't hailed the most sophisticated lady in the school for no reason. She was just bloody noisy to his ears and he wanted badly to silence her.

He needed time to think. Why was he bothering himself over such trivial things, anyway? It was not like him. What Lawliette chose to do was none of his business. Besides, wasn't he thinking of avoiding her altogether anyway? She was a dangerous to keep around after all. His façade meant nothing when he was in front of her and that alone meant that he could not control himself fully.

But then again, this woman he had been with had been challenging his power too. He felt completely different about the two's situation, but he knew taking advantage of Takeda's feelings would let him reap quite a few advantages. He knew Takeda would submit to him if needed, but Lawliette would not.

The fact that she did not look the same way as Takeda bothered him greatly. But it was probably just because that meant he couldn't use _her_, right?

Well, whatever the plan situation would be, Lawliette probably would _only_ be a problem...

But still- it didn't explain why the bloody hell he was thinking of criminal charges against _Rokko._

**…**

* * *

Rey Penbar stared at the open window showing him a clear view of the glorious night sky. He looked at the moon, the stars, and then the dark matter in between.

He held the love-of-his-life tightly as she slept soundly in his arms. His beautiful fiancée... who couldn't seem to shake off the habits of being the wonderful FBI agent that he strived to be. He looked at her all serene and safe and he believed that his decision to make her quit the agency was a wise one.

He would not be able to sleep knowing that she might be in danger. It hurt her at first, but she eventually submitted.

It smiled at the fact that neither of them knew the other was an FBI agent when they met. They were just normal people, doing normal things… and he wondered if they should have stayed that way.

"I love you." He whispered, not knowing why he was especially cheesy that night. She stirred slightly and cuddled with him more deeply. She smirked lightly.

"Uh-huh…"

.  
.

**END OF CHAPTER 5**

_**Coming Soon:  
**_**CHAPTER 6: Alliances**

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**REPLIES TO ANGELS  
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**Pudding-in-a-cup -** Glad you thought so! This chap felt a little like filler chapter though... hope it was fine, but you can be honest. XD Thank you for the review~**  
**

**emily . chmielewski- (Ch1) **Thank you~ But I only thought of it since my mentality at the moment was 'make characters, from anime who lack interesting girls, females!' hahah**  
**

**Guest [7/15/12] - **Yeah. That's one of my problems. When a plot bunny comes, I quickly write for it. *sigh* But this is definitely one of the funnest story to write, tho! Thx for the review. :D**  
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**Theindigowitch- T**hank you for the review! I'm flattered to hear that and I hope I can keep it up. ^^**  
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**Akela Victoire-** haha. XD Thanks for the review~

**AyameRose- **Naw don't worry about it. Everyone's reviews- no matter what and how short are all lovely to me. ^^ so Thanks for the review! XD

**Dzuljeta- **She will. Eventually. lolololol. Thanks for the review~! XDDD**  
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**Bexteron- (Ch2) **Banzai! haha. I'm happy that you thought so. And I think Light's so cute when that happens to him. lol. Thx for the review~**  
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**mai-chan265 - **And we'll go to that topic of you getting enough sleep again. XD And yeah, I agree he was hasty. Who knows why, ne? hahahaha. Thanks for the review, btw! ;D**  
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**FiliPinoyCJ7238- **Thank you for the review~! haha. I'm glad that you think that way and I'll do my best. And about the motivation thing. It starts out like that, but once publish and the need to update comes in most writers would start to depend on feedback for motivation. You'll understand soon. XD

**Someday's Future- **Thank you for the review~ Hope you liked this one, but I can't blame you if you didn't. ^^**  
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**RukiButterfly- **Sorry it took so long! I can only hope that this chapter was at least worth the wait. You can tell me what you thought though and thanks for the review. ^^**  
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** anonymous- **Me neither. haha. Don't expect too much though, but I'll do my best. Thanks for the review! XD**  
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* * *

**...**

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**Thank you for reading!  
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**I would love love love to read what you thought!  
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	6. Alliances

For those who kept with me after all this time- THANK YOU SO MUCH! T_T Special hugs, too, to those who reviewed, fav'ed, subscribed, and C2d the story. I love all of you so much! I hope you enjoy this chapter, but everyone can be honest with me~ Actually, please do. XD**  
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**Ad:** I made a simple fanart of Chibi fem! L posted in my DA account. Link is in my profile. XD It's dedicated to you guys~**  
**

**Disclaimer: **I WISH I own Death Note

* * *

…

* * *

**CHAPTER 6: Alliances**

TODAI

Yagami Light looked at his right hand and stretched it as far as it could go and let it close again. He did so for a little while as he sat, watching the professor speak non-school related things behind his desk. He had, after all, been writing continuously on the death note a week after the bus-jacking, not writing in the FBI's agent name just yet. He had to wait for Penbar to investigate more people, after all, otherwise he'd be suspected immediately.

And so, his days of waiting begun. That week was relatively light, and he was able to relax somehow for he knew he'd be able to give a massive blow on L's momentum soon. It was relaxing, indeed, for the most part. He had just been experimenting on the note's capabilities as well as sending meaningless messages to L mostly for sadistic fun.

"Is your hand alright, Yagami-kun?" He blinked. Takada, as usual, was sitting beside him. She must have been bored with the professor's story. That, or she was in a prying mood (again). She seemed to have the lack of will to stop talking about their 'date' in Spaceland, too.

He let out a fake smile, mentally wishing that she wouldn't stop blubbering about their date again. She had that tendency, even when the conversation started with something unrelated.

"Of course." he said, and continued to listened to the professor and made it look as if he was intently doing so. So, Takada getting the message, shut up and waited for the bell to ring.

When they left the room though, two of the people he'd rather not see at the moment were waiting. His peripheral view caught quite a few stares. The four of them were all well-known people in their batch, after all, maybe even among most of the upperclassmen.

"Ah." Takada seemed to 'suddenly' remember something, holding her hands together in the process. "Shall we all have lunch together?"

Light almost declined. Then he recalled Lawliette was there. She knew where he usually stayed during times like this. Well, maybe there would be no escaping this one. Unless he went somewhere else…

But then again, as much as he didn't want to see their faces, he was in no mood to refuse the three of them at once. That would be extremely troublesome.

He politely smiled at them. "Sure. That sounds good."

And like normal teenagers, they headed for their little spot, eventually shaking off the stares. They were fortunate students in the university were busy enough and had enough self-pride to keep themselves from following, likemany high school students would have done.

In any case, as they ate, Light noticed that the other two started calling Mukahi her first name. Of course, he refused to do the same. He stated they were not that close, and he was used at being extremely professional. None of them seemed to mind though so, to his relief, he didn't have to waste energy on dealing with them.

They probably assumed it was due to his strict upbringing, which was true. But he also needed to be as detached to his rival as possible..., and calling her in such an intimate manner would not help.

He retained the same expression all throughout, despite his eyes pausing at a few of Rokko and Mukahi's interactions. Eventually the two less intelligent people had to leave for their class, and he did too.

"I thought we have the same schedule, Yagami-kun." Mukahi asked quietly as she saw him stand up. The other two, who were still in earshot, paused their steps.

"Ah. But I have something to do." He answered stoically as the other two stared at him. They no longer waited for anything further though – they were going to be late.

Lawliette watched Rokko and Takeda hurriedly stride to their class and before shifting her gaze to Yagami, who was politely waiting for her reply.

_Polite_

She sighed. It was true, he had been more polite to her lately and that just meant he had been more guarded. Maybe she should not have said those things… and yet she did not regret saying anything.

Besides, it bothered her how the atmosphere surrounding Light changed constantly. For it was true that the tension before somehow diminished – it, nevertheless, did so in a very disturbing way.

It was as if he submitted to… something dark, and yet feeling empowered all the same.

She was worried for him. _Very_.

Light, on the other hand, pondered what to say next. He didn't and gestured to leave, as he had stated prior.

But then as he took a step away, his eyes widened. He realized that he had been avoiding her because of her… (quote& quote) effect on him. Doing something like this was running away, wasn't it?

He mentally sneered sardonically at himself for not seeing it sooner.

A God didn't know how to run away, he either destroyed or _converted_ his enemies. Either way should be fine. And so he turned around coolly and smiled at her lightly.

"Ryuzaki-san."

"Hai?"

"Mind hanging out with me after school? We haven't talked for a while anyway." There was silence for a few seconds. Light was unsure if it was due to ponder, or disbelief.

Seeing her suddenly beam..., he knew it was the latter. That smile of hers _almost_ transformed _his_ fake smile into a real one. She looked at the grass before staring at him to speak.

"Hai, Yagami-kun. I'd be glad to."

* * *

Rokki Hiru halted his steps when he heard that his companion did, too. She was looking anxiously at the direction she came from.

"You worry too much." He smiled, knowing what exactly she was thinking. She glared at him.

"You don't have the right to say that, you and Lawliette had become extremely close after all."

He didn't change his expression, and shrugged. "But we're just friends, for now anyway."

"That's very uncharacteristic of you." She spat recalling immediately how… aggressive her companion actually was with women. She knew that Rokko could flirt (magnificently) with anyone that interested him enough.

Rokko blushed lightly and turned away in embarrassment. "I know. But she's… different."

Takada, on the other hand, tried not to take (much) offense considering he basically just said that she was just one of the many girls he dated. It was still annoying though, but she had more pressing matters to think about.

But as if suddenly unaware of her existence, Rokko continued talking, consequently making her gape at him.

"Sometimes you have to let go of your pride, when it comes to that certain person."

She raised an eyebrow of distrust. "Those words don't suit you, Rokko. And where is this going, exactly?"

"You are a very (physically) beautiful woman, Kiyomi." He answered bluntly as if it was obvious, and Takada blushed. "...So I was kinda staring at you when Yagami was doing his speech. Guess what I saw?"

"…"

"Twinkling eyes, burning cheeks, gaping m-"

"Shut up."

"In any case, I want to propose something…"

She looked at him suspiciously, and he shook his head in amusement.

"What?"

"Since you're a girl and I'm a boy… we could, you know, help each other out."

It did not take long for a cliche'd handshake to occur.

* * *

RANDOM STREET, A few hours later

Light walked to their meeting place coolly as he analyzed events in his was currently wearing a casual attire, with his hands resting comfortably on his coat pocket. Ryuk was uncharacteristically quiet that day, and Light knew he was looking forward to something. His plans unfolding, perhaps?

In any case he, Yagami Light, was finally going to end those FBI agents in Japan the next day and he pondered why he was going to hang out with _her_ of all times. He had already written what he needed to, but still. In the end, he concluded that he wanted prove that he was not losing to her as soon as possible.

But for some utterly odd reason, he saw her much sooner than he had anticipated; She was like a frozen entity, standing still in front of a house. As if she was waiting for someone to come out. He slowly approached her and called her name quietly. He did not expect that she was in such a daze that she would be so surprised by such a soft call.

"Y-Yagami- kun!" she yelled reflexively turning away and making some weird gestures with her hands. The idiotic image that she made actually made him chuckle, genuinely. He stopped when he noticed that she was shamelessly gawking at him.

He raised an elegant eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing. I just kind of missed seeing you look like a genuine person, that's all."

He shook his head both in disapproval and to shoo something else. "You're being rude, again, Ryuzaki-san."

"I know. I just thought it was time to point it out."

He sighed returning to his emotionless self. "What are you doing here, anyway? Didn't we agree to meet at the bakery?"

She just looked at him and tilted her head back to stare at the house once again. Her eyes softened and she let out a deep breath. She didn't speak for a while, and the wind just blew continuously against them… and eventually? She smiled.

"This was the house my mother grew up in." He flinched.

"I see… you don't live here, don't you?"

"I don't. I never did."

"…"

"I came here to Japan to know more about them, my parents."

"What? Then…"

"I was adopted by a nice man that they had worked for."

How come he didn't know this? Then again, what did he expect? "I see…" was all he uttered. He really wanted to ask what happened to her parents, but they weren't that close. He was the one who actually ensured that.

"They died when I was still a toddler." She muttered and another long moment of silence ensued between them. He wanted to ask how they died, but then… what would that make him look like? Thankfully though, she told him willingly herself.

"They had gotten involved with the Mafia and got killed in the process." She whispered almost to herself in a very soft tone of voice that he had never heard her use before. His eyes widened abruptly, and for the moment he had no strength to force it away. He first needed to shoo certain questions away, an attempt to calm his mind.

'_How the hell did she remain so… faithful to mankind, then? And why?'_ He asked himself and was visibly gawking at her now.

"Please don't look at me as if some kind of monster, Yagami-san."

He mentally punched himself to catch his composure, he quickly rummaged his brain for a save. "I-Ie. I just thought it's amazing that you stay by your belief that the world is not hopeless."

"I suppose…"

"Shall we?" he asked, thinking how he would improve his plan for her that day. He had set up a trap to make her see first hand how the world really worked. If she did, he thought that maybe she would stop bugging him with her ideals and he would stop feeling so… different.

But after this little revelation…

He found out that destroying her trust in humanity was going to be a much harder task than he thought it was.

And so, some torturous steps to the bakery begun.

**…**

_Tap_

_Tap  
_

_Tap  
_

Light and Lawliette were walking to their destination, he opened up a topic to make what he planned for her to witness all that more surprising. Lawliette, though, was basically as monotonous as ever.

"You walked here?" he asked.

"Hai."

"Okay. Do they know you're out of the house?"

"No."

"…"

"They won't find out." She added as reassurance.

"How can you be so sure."

"I just am, Yagami-san, I just am." Lawliette answered casually and looked around. They were then in a very… unmaintained narrow street and she was hearing very disturbing noises. She hastened her pace to see a group of gangsters and they were doing… something to a girl she could barely see in the middle of them. She could hear her muffle screams.

Her eyes widened, and her mind went blank.

She ran to save her.

…

Light could not believe what she just did! What the hell was she _thinking_? He was planning on pretending his surprise with her and forcing her to hide to safety as he called the police – which he called using a program so that they would come on precisely the right time.

But considering how _idiotic_ his companion was, that 'right on time' might be too late. At the moment, he wished his heart would stop beating so loudly so he could actually _think- _-

Then he realized he probably couldn't do that, and he idiotically ran to her as well. But she was quick and to his utter shock she pulled a man back and beat him up. He didn't know what style of martial arts she used but she single handed-ly defeated half of the guys without getting hit.

But after a while someone finally got her and she fell head first on the floor.

"Lawliette!" he yelled in despair, as he punched the guy who was running to attack her. His adrenaline though, somehow disappeared when the other girl, the one the men were ganging up against, called him.

"Onii-san!"

His eyes widened. This wasn't part of the plan. He knew he made them abduct a random girl – but _Sayu_?

"W-What?" He uttered but he was cut off by a bulky man coming to him and he kicked him as hard as he could. He was 'finished' off by Lawliette making a jump kick.

His disheveled sister immediately ran to him, and Lawliette walked tiredly to his side. They begged the breather moment would last, but unfortunately the remaining men went to attack. Light wanted to stop Lawliette from acting so recklessly but then, thank goodness, those blasted officers finally came.

"FREEZE! Nobody move!"

And right on cue..., every one of the gangsters died of a heart attack.

* * *

YAGAMI RESIDENCE

Light, Lawliette, and Sayu immediately went to the house after getting questioned in the police station. After that, Light was certain that nobody really did know Lawliette was out with him… having such a rich father meant that they should have already shown up ages prior to take her away.

He was glad that they didn't, for he also knew how to be grateful despite his actions. To think that his own sister almost got molested because of him, and she was saved by no other than the girl he wanted to confuse with the mere sight.

Lawliette proved every one of his expectations wrong and a huge part of him was mad, but another was really just thankful. That human part. The part that he had been trying to suppress since obtaining the death note.

His eyes shifted to Lawliette, who was then drinking hot chocolate with the admiring Sayu- -who seemed too amazed by Lawliette that she seemed to have forgotten what those thugs almost did to her.

He hadn't realized it before, that all this time… _she_ was the person who had been making him keep his humanity.

That Lawliette was the one doing the 'converting'.

* * *

"Haaa..." A certain ivory-colored Shinigami yawned shamelessly as he stood beside Yagami light inside the train station, the very next morning.

The human was resting his back against the wall as he waited for the FBI agent. The railway station would be the setting to Light's plan of eliminating a few major people who went against him. He waited for him near the food courts, a spot where no surveillance cameras were placed.

As they waited, Light unwillingly wished that he didn't time the events to that moment. He wanted to see her when she had just woken up. She slept in Sayu's bed after a _long_ time of chatting with his sister, since he could hear some of the laughter (mostly boisterous ones from his sister) from his room.

She should still be asleep at this time, though, but he was almost certain that she wouldn't be there anymore when he got back home...

_Tap Tap Tap_

His thoughts immediately went back to the present. A familiar figure walked passed him and he immediately pushed the thoughts to the back of his head.

There he was: Rey Penbar.

He smirked, stood up, and Ryuk started flapping his wings.

Light's intricate plan had finally begun.

.

.

Ray Penbar got frozen- -eyes filled with fear- -as he watched a man die of a heart attack in front of him. Just as the guy behind him said so. He shivered. This man behind him was the real thing – Kira. His voice was familiar – but why couldn't he place it anywhere? It was as if some force had been keeping it to the back of his head.

Kira soon gave him the conditions that he needed to accomplish if he didn't want to die, along with his loved ones.

As he took hold of the envelope with a bunch of paper and a speaking device, images of his family surged through. And _her_ image stayed there until Kira's threateningly calm but cold voice pulled him out of his trance.

"Do something wrong, and they will die."

_Naomi…_

He let his chest pound crazily at what was happening. He was going to be Kira's dog…

But he didn't care. So long as they were safe.

**…**

Light watched with blunt interest and amusement his suffering as the door of the train slid close. He loved that feeling of achievement and pride when his victim would recognize just how they played his game and how badly they had lost.

It was interesting, the capabilities of the death note. Making sure Penbar did not remember his voice was just one of them. He tricked him into killing his own comrades by hiding a piece of the death note and making him write their names himself.

It was indeed a very entertaining moment for Light, making enemies kill their own allies would always be.

He smirked.

And L would be next.

* * *

_"Hmnn..." _

Meanwhile, back at the residence of the police chief, long pale arms stretched to thin air, followed by a long moan indicating someone was being forced out of lethargy. It was Lawliette, and she woke up rather comfortable that morning. She wiped her eyes and looked around, soon flinching as soon as she realized that her new friend was no longer beside her. She stood up and stretched further, and her eyes ended up on the clock.

_9:00am_

She overslept but she did not flinch. Chances were, they still didn't know she's not home. She specifically told them not to bother her in the room until she went out herself, and they knew all too well how long she could lock herself up in a room for a _very_ long time when she needed time to think.

She felt bad for lying, of course, as well as the fact that she had put the case aside for now. Even if she knew there were not a lot of new data until the FBI agents finished their job, there was still a feeling of guilt that she was relaxing. It was odd how relaxed she was with this family, momentarily forgetting about the case.

She even met the chief in person, and despite his sternness she could tell he was quite a sweet man.

She opened the door lightly and quietly went down the stairs. The first person she saw was Sayu watching some sort of soap opera in the morning.

"Morning." She said to Sayu and Mrs. Yagami who was at the dining table reading a magazine. The old woman nodded in greeting while the little girl stood up and gave her a nice hug,

"Ohayou." Sayu had really been attached to her, calling Lawliette her 'hero' after witnessing her 'awesome karate-chop moves'. She was definitely not like her brother, and to some degree it was quite refreshing.

Speaking of Light…

"Where is Ya- Light-kun?" She asked politely, pretty sure he wasn't still sleeping. Her mother also urged her to call them by their first names, much to Light's somewhat masked displeasure, since they were all Yagamis.

"He went to buy the groceries for Lunch." Sachiko answered, omitting the fact that he was taking a little longer than usual.

"Eh…"

Sachiko smiled. "That's just how diligent he is." And then grinned at her slyly effectively making her flinch.

"Don't you think so, too, Mukahi-san?"

"H-Hai…"

"So… how was the date going before _that_?" Sayu asked, as if she wasn't the victim. Lawliette knew by her wincing that she was still affected, but Sayu was a very optimistic girl.

"I don't think it's a date, though..." She replied. Rokko specifically told her a date is a date only when one of the parties told it to be. He reasoned that hanging out together could be called many things, and date was one of them. But 'dates' were special, he said, and must be only called so appropriately.

She believed him of course. He wasn't (exactly) lying and Lawliette had absolutely no knowledge of such social customs. So she was basically depending on what she learned from her friends. And as these thoughts passed by her head, her stomach soon reacted.

_Ggrrrowl_

The other two women laughed.

"You should eat now, Lawliette-nee." Sayu grinned and L could only smile back.

"Thanks."

…

Yagami Light arrived at his home, looking especially nonchalant – as if he did not just kill a dozen FBI agents.

"Tadaima." He said, and his sister greeted him back. For a moment there, he expected Lawliette to be beside his sister watching the soap opera she so religiously saw.

"Mukahi-san had already gone home?"

"Hai." They said almost simultaneously that it was suspicious. In any case, he was in much too good mood today – he was winning in this game he was having with L. And he knew it. It was just a matter of time before L did, too.

How he wished he could see that bastard's face at that moment.

"Oh, Light."

"Hai, Kaa-san?" he asked politely and she handed him the rolls of tissue paper that he bought during his shopping that morning.

"Mind putting this in the bathroom please, I might forget…" She said with a misplaced 'please and thank you' look that his mother only wore when she was asking for an especially difficult favour.

_Suspicious…_

But he went to do what he was asked to, anyway.

He went up quietly and stood outside the bathroom's door. He stared at it and pondered: What was his family planning?

A second later it all came to place and he felt like scoffing at them.

It was beyond _obvious_ that his mother liked Mukahi – she was smart, rich, and overall very promising. Really, though, it was almost offending that they thought he'd fall for _that_ trick. He stared at the door knob. Then, again…

He frowned, and mentally looked at himself as if he just ate a cockroach. _Did he just consider purposely falling for the trap?_ He let out a deep breath, stepped back from the bathroom door, and gestured to go to his room.

His frown got deeper. _Seriously!_

He did not notice someone sneak behind him.

"Gah!" he uttered uncharacteristically, as he felt something poke his back. His yell was admittedly, still manly, but he was not supposed to make such reflexive reactions. Especially not in front of _her_.

"Ehh… (I don't know why you're staring at the door knob but) Light-kun actually has a sensitive spot on his back. Who would have thought-" She muttered in her somewhat monotonous voice in amusement, only to be cut off by Light caging her to the wall. Her eyes widened and his almost did, too.

He ignored the muffled squeals by his mother and sister. This was not part of their plan (obviously), but apparently still entertaining to watch and worthy of shameless prying.

Sometimes he wondered how the hell people –especially _his_ family - could act so idiotically.

He let out a sigh and leaned over to her, making sure his mother and sister did not know that he was aware of their presence. He could smell the shampoo Lawliette used and he pushed away whatever urge he was feeling at the moment. He felt Lawliette flinch slightly under his hold, and he smirked in… amusement.

"They set me up."

"Pardon?"

"They wanted me to see you bathing…" he whispered more quietly, and she got the message. She lowered her voice.

"Why would they do that?"

"They're bored."

"Like you?"

He smiled. "Yes, like me."

"What are you planning?" she asked abruptly surprising him. He did not notice he was even _about_ to do something.

"They're my family. Why not entertain them when they need it?" He saved coolly, almost huffing. Lawliette's eyebrows curled in puzzlement.

"What do you m-"

Too late. He already locked lips with her.

* * *

Lawliette arrived at the 'safety' of her home appearing all dazed and fizzled to the point that she did not even bother to hide and make some sort of plan so that no one would know she was actually out of her room.

"Morning."

"Morning, Lawlie-" Muro, her chef and chauffeur looked alternatively at her and her locked bedroom door.

"I was out. Don't tell father."

"A-Aah." He said and Lawliette proceeded to her room. Only to find very distressing news.

_Doki_

The police found out about the mass killing of the FBI agents. The FBI agents assigned to investigate _them_. Proof that she doubted ehr own comrades. This unsurprisingly made them turn against her. She could not blame them, she was the only one at fault here but she knew there wasn't really much of a choice.

But it had been inevitable- -she couldn't trust _them_ per se. Kira planned this all along.

But in the least..., this event would unmask those truly willing to risk their lives to catch Kira. The number though slightly disappointed her since, before as her idealistic principles ran her actions, she thought everyone who took this job was willing to see justice until the end.

This might sound judgmental for she knew that some quit just because she was leading the case. But seeing how they acted and looked at situations through the weeks she had started to know better:

Some people just took the job simply because of its position to power.

Lawliette sighed. She saw that there were some who would stay, but would probably leave because they distrusted her. But she was determined to take that to the end. She was willing to risk her life for this case, and it was time that she showed it.

Through her screen, she looked and stared at the remaining officers… particularly the chief. He was stated firmly that if she wanted to remain working along side them, she must also risk her life. That wasn't a question – not for her. She had been planning on doing that ages ago.

She stared at him again for a moment as she held her mic.

It seems like she'll be hanging out with another Yagami…

But at least _he_ wouldn't be setting her up with Light.

.

.

**END OF CHAPTER VI:**

_**Coming Soon:  
**_**CHAPTER VII: Complications**

* * *

**REPLIES TO ANGELS**

**Chellyisback- (ch1) **I'm hoping you're reading this. lol. I'm glad you thought it was cute and thanks for the review! ^^**  
**

**Akela Victoire- **Thank you for the review! And I hope I can keep it up until the end. XD**  
**

**Girl-luvs-manga-** I agree! haha. I looove genderbenders! lol. In fact, almost all I write are genderbenders. nyahah. Thanks for the comment~

**Neristhaed- **"Stoic-Cold Light with Something-Like-Optimism L and their not quite a relationship." -made me chuckle. XD And lol, L's going to be OOC here considering her new background. Be warned! And thanks for the review~**  
**

**kitty tokyo uzumaki- **I'm so so so sorry for the late update! T_T I pray this chap was somewhat worth the wait, but do tell me what you really thought. XD Thanks for the comment!**  
**

**Anon-** Thank you for the review~ And yay! Another genderbender fan~! *Cheers* haha. I'll do my best to make the waits worth it, and sorry for the late update! D:**  
**

**Ways-san- **Oh my goodness I'm so sorry for the late update! T_T I made dress wear a dress for you guys in case you didn't see my A/N above. hehe. All of your questions'll be answered in the next chapters. ^^ And thank you for the review!**  
**

**foggraven- (Ch2) ***Cackles* I'm relieved you thought they (esp Light) were cute! XD Thank you for the comment, btw~**  
**

**oturanlife123-** Thank you for the review! Glad you liked fem!L. hehe~ And so sorry for the late update!**  
**

* * *

**...**

* * *

Thank you for reading guys!

And it would be even more awesome if you were to pause for a moment...  
And leave me some feedback pls? Thank you. :)


	7. Complications

**WARNING:** Mostly on Misora's POV, as I love her and since she's going to die I thought I better give her some more stage time. XD Also, Beyond Birthday here is _older_ than L. I suppose they're positions in the canon kinda got switched.

Please don't forget to review!

**A/N: **I will never get tired of thanking everyone for their support! Special hugs to those who let me know by reviewing,subscribing, fav'ing, and/or C2d. :)

**DISCLAIMER: **I WISH I own Death Note

* * *

,..

* * *

**CHAPTER 7: Complications**

_WAMMY HOUSE, 10 years ago_

_An 8 year old Mukahi Lawliette stared at the large sign as he held a strange, but gentle, old man's hand. They entered, and she noticed the old man was being treated with great respect. Everyone looking at him with admiration. Everyone looked fine, as he promised when he took her in._

"Everything will be alright. Come with me, child."_ Those were his words after she found out what happened to her parents. She wasn't worried when they didn't go home for a few days. They were always away, after all.  
_

_But there always had that insatiable faith within her. She believed they would always come home. Rather, she never quite considered them not doing so, despite knowing no one knew what would happen in the future.  
_

_She could still remember the despair and anguish she felt when she realized, and accepted, they would never come back again. She barely even shed any tears. Her tear glands? they were like broken faucets. She knew that if she turned them on, they might never stop.  
_

_But... she didn't know what to do. Her parents, their smiles, their scent- _everything_, they were what she was looking forward to all her life. Her friends, her achievements, and her inventions came far after. And the hard work she put into those were all for her parents? To make them proud, and keep their worries to the back of their heads. _

_And before she could try and figure things out for herself what to do, the old man came to her house and chatted with her. He was a nice and gentle man. He had the same scent as her parents. So when he extended his hand..., stranger or not, she took it without a hint of reluctance in her eyes. _

_Tap _

_Tap_

_Tap_

_She stared at their intertwined hands. His hand was all rough and wrinkled, but it felt the same as her father's. __She wondered when she would be able to let go. _  


___The old man looked down and smiled, before proceeding their walk across the beautiful hallway that day. He seemed to understand she had no intention of parting with him yet. For that, little Lawliette was thankful. _

___"Where are we?" she asked. The old man stared at her in relief. She was surprised too. It had been weeks since she last said anything.  
_

___In any case, Watari's face showed relief and happiness.  
_

___"In your new Home."  
_

___...  
_

_Watari continued to take her deeper into the house. They paused in front of a large French door, and a guy who was following him opened the door. It led to a large room with lots of books. Lawliette's hand kept entwined with his as they passed by the shelves and closer to the room's occupants: A boy, both older than she was. Even after they were only a few meters away, the boy continued typing. His fingers moving quickly (that was a grave understatement) across the keyboard of his wireless computer._

_She noted he was around 12 or 13 years of age. He had jet black hair like hers, he was wearing a plain baggy white shirt and jeans, and... he was sitting in an odd way. But the part of him she would remember the clearest would be his eyes. So deep, dark, and attractive. The bags that surrounded it both framed his eyes, and made it look more terrifying.  
_

_Watari noticed the kids staring at each other, two of his new proteges, and he cleared his throat. He patted the new orphan's head and gently guided her closer to his first student.  
_

_"This is Beyond Birthday, Lawliette. He'll be like your, as you call in Japan, 'Senpai'"._

_Beyond stared. Lawliette did, too. They heard the fluttering of a book's pages, as well, signalling the other boy was listening.  
_

_"Hmn..."_

_Watari joined in the passive staring.  
_

_Beyond noticed the awkwardness, and to Watari's surprise the boy actually tried something to ease it. He never really bothered before.  
_

_"Lawliette, is it?" He asked, the girl nodded inanimately. But they could tell she was interested. "Come here."  
_

_She tilted her head in puzzlement.  
_

_He rotated his laptop's screen so that she would see. Numbers and Letters, arranged in a way unfathomable for normal humans to decipher, occupied its screen.  
_

_"What's that?"  
_

_"I'm making a program."  
_

_"I see..."  
_

_"Want to help?"  
_

_The girl's eyes lit, and Watari knew it was of relief. He felt his body lose its tension as well. This little girl was lost, after all. Her parents were her life, they were gone now. He looked at the kids again and smiled.  
_

_She was going to be alright, after all.  
_

_"Now, if you'll excuse me." Watari said as he took off his hat. "You kids have fun."  
_

_...  
_

_"What do you need help with?"  
_

_"I need a letter. An alias to call myself. It should be good since it'll be known to the world soon. I can't do B."  
_

_"Why not?"  
_

_"It sounds like a barbie's name." he shrugged. "I wanted something I'll remember."  
_

_As if on cue, the door opened and revealed a boy carrying a gallon of ice cream. It looked cookies and cream. "A." he said out-of-nowhere, and Beyond as if already went through this hundreds of times prior, only sighed.  
_

_"Like I said, Alluka. A just doesn't sound that cool."  
_

_"Che." He humped before looking away. "Anyway, I'll be your successor so why not do something in advance? I want A."  
_

_"No."  
_

_It was then that Lawliette suddenly felt like speaking. "What about L, then?"  
_

_Alluka almost laughed at the joke, but then B started looking as if he was pondering something.  
_

_"L, it is then."  
_

* * *

TOUSHOU HOTEL, 7:00pm

Yagami Suichiro and his team of 5 – after very precautionary steps to the room - stared at this so-called 'L' in blunt disbelief. Too blunt, really, much to his chagrin… and he barely managed to maintain his own incredulity.

The great detective 'L' – who, at the span of 2 years became the most trusted and acknowledged investigator in the world. L, who had proved the mortal existence of an entity many had started to believe as a supernatural divine being, turned out to be a very dishevelled looking boy that somehow reminded him of one of his son's friends. He even looked a lot like her, too.

The boy looked young. He shouldn't be any older than his own son. He had a crouched back and was wearing jeans partnered with baggy plain white shirt.

Lawliette, on the other hand, mentally apologized to them for disguising herself. She was fortunate that she had someone to copy, and at some years in her life she wanted to act exactly like him… so acting this way again was not a problem.

The problem was her conscience. She said she trusted them, which she did. But since she knew Kira could control a person before killing them, the scenario of him eventually getting to them and making them tell the information of her identity was far from impossible. She didn't want to sound arrogant, but if she died, Kira would have no more obstacles.

There was no Alluka nor Beyond anymore to support her.

L led them to the room's discussion area. It was a little smaller than what she has in her actual house in the country, but it would do for their small number. She sat the way _he_ sat and did his mannerisms perfectly. The fact that she actually looked a lot like that person, did actually make her feel this a tad more.

She missed him… and she wondered how he was doing…

"Ano.. L.."

"Please call me Ryuzaki." She said. It was a name that meant dinosaur – a powerful but extinct creature that once ruled the world. Just like Beyond… a person she idolized and loved greatly that it was almost abnormal.

She shook her head of the thoughts and proceeded in telling them her deductions. Matsuda, as always, was outspoken and yelled about how amazing this was.

In any case, they were being too confident. There was still the fact that at the moment, she was losing to Kira. The chief pointed that out.

"You said that the two of you are childish and hates to lose…" he said, pertaining to one of her earlier statements. It was true, in a sense, and it was the only way she could actually empathize to some degree to Kira despite how much pain it caused her. Their sense of prides clashing, standing by their beliefs as if they were the absolute truth.

"But doesn't the fact that you have shown your face to us, meant that you are losing…?" he asked nervously, and she nodded.

"That's right." She stated and sipped her tea. She stared at them directly and firmly, catching their full attention.

"But we'll win in the end."

**…**

After they had left, she had finally found the time to recall past events. She didn't have time to honour their lives, and she wasn't able to send enough condolences to the old man…

She would send gifts of apology to the families of those agents even when she knew they would not help. She would make sure that their children were well-fed and funded… but there remained the fact that she would never be able to bring back the father, the lover, the sons, and friends of those poor people.

Really though, she always knew crying never fixed anything… but herself.

She bowed her head to pray. Despite her scientific upbringing, Watari never forgot to teach them about religion, or at least when to never lose hope. Having a concept of a greater power- the universe, for atheists- a sense of whole, so to speak really did have the capacity to keep a person sane. That he was not just some random occurrence in the world and would disappear when mere chance demanded it to.

She let out a deep breath upon standing up and staring at the stars. It was time to read and analyze the information and footage those agents lost their lives for. And she would find good leads from them.

She would find _something_ from this, something significant, no matter how many times she had to look at them.

* * *

YAGAMI RESIDENCE, 9:30pm

Yagami Suichiro called for a family meeting as soon as he reached the house and they all, except Light unsurprisingly, sat anxiously as they waited for whatever would say. He soon revealed that he was the head of the Kira case, enticing admiring compliments from his daughter. He loved hearing them, but that wasn't the point.

There's a huge chance he might die for this case. And after saying that, unsurprisingly, the atmosphere changed.

"You should resign, Otou-san! I don't want you to die! Yaaadda!"

"Anata… please don't risk your life on this!"

He shook his head determinedly. "Ie. I will not submit to evil."

Light stood up coolly, and walked to his room. "That's great dad."

Suichiro mentally smiled at his son's maturity and the boy, sensing this, did the same.

"I'll make sure that if anything happens to you, I will hunt Kira to his grave."

"Ah."

And Yagami Suichiro knew he'd be able to sleep well that night.

* * *

_Ray..._

A hand traced its owner's cheek, which soon covered its owner's face, leaving just enough opening for her eyes to see despite her blurring vision. _  
_

_My beloved Ray...  
_

And her palm was soon wet with tears.

It was on the other side of the city..., a beautiful woman with raven hair stared at... _nothing_. The nothing that her beloved had gone to, unjustly sent there by a heartless criminal. Her incessant tears flowed along her cheeks and she did not attempt to stop them. No one was left there to see them anyway.

Her fiancé was gone. Killed.

Her precious Ray…

_WASHINGTON D.C., 3 years prior_

_Misora Naomi walked passively onto the train as she held her huge handbag full of her things as an FBI agent. It was actually her day-off that day though, and she was surprised that she took everything as she just wanted to walk around. Before she knew it, she was on her way to a suspect's house to a friend's case._

_What? Her job was her life. She had few friends, but Naomi valued quality more than quantity. But that also meant that if all of them were busy, then she was left alone on her day-off with nothing else to do but things relating to her job._

_As she inconspicuously observed her surroundings – habit of hers as an investigator, her eyes ended on a handsome man on a dark coat. He had his eyes closed and was obviously maximizing his time and rest. She could see from his eye bags that he needed it._

_He was still very alert though, evidently, as he woke up immediately at the sound of the train stopping. He waited for most of the passengers to get out before doing so himself. She batted an eyelid. _

_He just dropped his wallet. _

_She ran to it and then immediately went to follow him._

"_Excuse me… You dropped something."_

"_Oh. Thank you." He smiled, unconsciously opening it revealing a picture of a pretty little girl about 2 years of age._

"_Your daughter?" She asked out of curiosity and he shook his head in amusement._

"_She's my sister." He answered making her blink. How old is he?_

"_My parents adopted her. They were already bored with me." He answered her unspoken question and jokingly added the second sentence. She laughed and then found herself mesmerized by those beautiful green orbs of his-_

_Clank_

"_Eh?" she uttered and followed the slowly moving train wearing an unchanging expression – as if she was still loading the situation._

_The man could not help but laugh._

_She stared at him._

"_Sorry. Haha. I'll pay for the fare."_

"_No need, really. I'm fine with hanging out around here."_

"_You have nothing to do?"_

"_It's, unfortunately, my day off. I was hoping I find something that has nothing to do with my job."_

"_What is your job?"_

"_I'm… an aspiring detective." She lied. She just had that concept that there's a huge chance that strong girls were a turn off. Especially someone of obvious East Asian descent like her. Men would expect her to be docile._

"_That's a job?"_

"_Maybe."_

"_You're lying to me."_

"_Maybe."_

_He smirked."Am I going to find out?"_

"_That depends on you." She replied coolly. Internally, though, she was looking at herself as if she just ate a cockroach._

_She couldn't _believe_ she actually_ flirted_ with a man she just met…_

_But it all turned out well… and he proposed to her 2 years since then._

It was supposed to be a happy memory…

It was just too cruel that he died inside a train.

…

Naomi sat there crying her heart out as she mourned her fiancé. It was fine to cry she knew, those were one of the things that L had said to her during that case.

L.

L.

_L_

She abruptly stood up as she recalled and reflexively went to get ready.

L.

Her only hope for Justice.

_The elections was finally over. The democrats had finally won on a major state ruled by republicans for too long a time. With the change of control came investigations._

_But most politicians were far from stupid. Stupid people wouldn't be able to fool people for such a long time, after all._

_For generations, hidden clues had finally emerged from the ground and graves alike… but they could not find any concrete proof against the family who apparently had a relatively unobvious political dynasty. They had been assigned to find these data, but barely anything had come up for months on end and some were already losing hope._

_That was, until the huge monitors of their meeting areas suddenly turned static making them stand up reflexively. And then as if on cue, a huge old English-style letter 'L' appeared on the screen and a cyber-masked voice passed the room as if he had just announced their death sentences._

_Nothing of the sort came of course, and odd enough the person was not a bad talker and some of them somewhat relaxed. Some. Most had their guns out.  
_

_"Don't shoot the camera please, I don't mean any harm."_

_"W-what are you doing here? How did you hack through our security?" the chief asked and gestured for one of the person to trace her._

_"It wasn't hard believe me, but like I said, I mean no harm. I just wanted to help." The voice uttered and Naomi believed him immediately. There was just some… childish quality in the voice that her feminine-side had an utter weakness for._

_"What do you mean?" The old man asked vehemently ordering everyone who was anyone to get to the hacker._

_"You won't be able to track me, no matter what you do. So it is better to save energy and listen to me, yes?"_

_"Why would we?"_

_"Well… the way you are now, you won't be able to solve the corruption case."_

_"How did you-" The Chief cut himself off, and guardedly crossed his arms. "And you are just a concerned citizen wanting to help?"_

_"Yes." came the mysterious hacker's immediate and monotonous answer. "I found that a few orphanages are affected, and I can't let it slide." Naomi blinked. Did he not know that he just gave out a clue for his identity? Or was he so confident that he couldn't be traced to the point that he didn't even care?_

_"Why not show your face then?" The boss asked sceptically._

_"I can't. I'm not even allowed to do this, my father would kill me."_

Silence

_And even after that weird situation? Who would have thought they would end up following him, anyway…_

_.  
_

_*A few hours later*_

_L coolly finished stating his logic and giving them his proof and bases. He was unbelievable – and that was an understatement. He basically had the same starting point as they had but he had got tens of folds of new insights than they did, most of which they would not even consider._

_The chief assigned tasks based on his deductions for each one of them and she was assigned to investigate the former governor himself. She was the last one given the assignment, and before she was about to leave… she was stopped._

_"Misora Naomi-san?" The voice from the screen called casually catching her and the chief's, who was the only one with her, attention. She straightened up immediately._

_"Is there anything you want to add, L?" The chief asked._

_"I want to talk to miss Misora alone."_

_There was a moment of silence. But after looking at them alternatively, the man shrugged. "Ah…" he said, and soon leaving the two of them alone.  
_

_Naomi sat at the chair near the camera and looked straight to it. It was weird how she did not feel like a specimen under those lenses at all. She waited for him to speak about something important about her assignment._

_But what he stated was far from it. Well, sort of._

_"This is a big job, Misora-san, are you sure you are ready for this?" she frowned at the tone of voice he was emitting. _

_Did she misjudge him? Is he just one of those sexist bastards she had gotten sick of? _

_"I don't see why not?" She snapped, but the voice remained calm.  
_

_"Well, you are emotional… I think you better resolved whatever problems you are dealing with…"_

_Her eyes widened as certain words passed by her head.  
_

"Naomi… now that you're going to be my wife… I want you to quit your job."

_She shook her head of the thoughts, willing herself to be composed. "I can't do that now."_

_"I am good at keeping secrets, Misora-san. And I don't think I need to prove that." He said and she chuckled slightly, before returning to her original anxious state. Her guard was basically non-existent with this person. And she didn't know why.  
_

_So she ended up blabbering personal data.  
_

_"I love my job, L. And I have to choose between it and another one I love."_

_"You have another job?" He asked genuinely catching her off-guard, despite barely having it up in the first place. It sounded as if L never heard about relationships before._

_"My fiancé. He wanted me to give up my job."_

Silence. "Did_ he tell you why?"_

_Naomi blinked at the innocent curiosity a woman like her could sense so clearly. It really felt as if she was talking to a child. Maybe she may name her child with a name that starts with 'L'…_

_"He said it was unsafe, and he can't sleep knowing I'm risking my life. It really just sounds as if he doesn't trust me."_

_"He probably just doesn't trust the situations that neither of you can control."_

_"…"_

_"Besides… your future family will need you most."_

Silence

_Despite her pride in her intelligence, she had never looked at it that way. Had she become so arrogant as to deduce such conclusions so readily?_

_Inappropriate and continuous tears came out of her eyes, refusing to stop at her will. "I'm sorry…"_

_"It's fine. Hampering tears will make you explode eventually."_

_"L?" she called looking at the visually static screen with a letter…_

_"Hn?"_

_…but really, the person behind was too obvious. She smiled._

_"Thank you."_

And Misora Naomi knew, that at a time like this, _he_ was the only person she had left to depend on.

* * *

_..._

* * *

LIGHT'S BEDROOM_  
_

_Thump_

As soon as he entered his room, Yagami Light sat on his chair, almost abruptly and coolly placed his left hand on the table.

Even his father was calling _him_ evil.

He shrugged. It's not like he'd be reluctant in taking that old man's life when the time comes anyway-

"_Ne, Yagami-kun, your dad's a nice man. I get where you inherited that strong conviction of yours." _

He frowned. _Her _again? She said that to him out-of-nowhere after he attacked the police station and got to them. The man even demanded to punish the gangsters despite them already being dead. Apparently, he would not be able to rest since it was Kira who killed the bastards and not him.

"_Light-kun… you sure have a nice family. You should be thankful.'_ She said when they parted the morning he… kissed her.

Damnit.

_Why did he kiss her_, anyway?

He did tell her that basically what he did was just to shut his sister and mother up, that it had no meaning. But then, was it normal for him- a clean top-student- to do something so… unlike him?

It was the Death Note, probably. Even Lawliette pointed out that something changed in him. He had always felt superior but being given the death note by destiny made him even more so – to the point that he became a god. The old Light would at least act flustered and slightly embarrassed and then apologize. He would pretend that he didn't mind the joke pulled on him and smile.

But with his new status, and the fact that he had never really hid himself from Lawliette made him do something overtly impulsive.

He unconsciously touched his lips – and he flinched instantaneously as he found Ryuk creepily staring at him.

"Light… are you thinkin' of perverted thoughts?"

He frowned, and threw him an apple.

"Shut up, you damned Shinigami"

* * *

The next day, Yagami Light woke up particularly less enthusiastic than usual. He had a bad feeling, and he couldn't help but think there might be a 'hole' during his actions this past few days. He had taken a huge risk in the bus jacking, and a little unexpected factor could become a huge problem for him.

He turned around instinctively. It was unsurprising that both of them acted as if nothing happened, that kiss meant nothing. Nothing.

He shooed away the thoughts. That girl was making everything worse for him. Things would be so much easier if she was gone…

For a moment he thought about ending her life and it actually quite a rational thing to do. Kill her painlessly with an accident or something… Yes, logical.

And it didn't explain the sudden jolt of pain in his chest. He immediately pushed the thoughts away and completely disregarded a certain possibility to the point that he didn't even acknowledge its existence.

There were just things that even super geniuses refuse to consider… no matter how much confusion it gave them.

Light stood up abruptly and went down the stairs. This was uncomfortable; he felt that he needed a different scenery of sorts for the moment. And right on time -as he went down the stairs, he overheard a conversation of his mother and sister. His mother was asking Sayu to bring their father's lunch to the headquarters.

He cleared his throat to get their attention. "I'll do it. I needed a change of pace, anyway." And it made Sayu jump for joy.

"Yatta! Thank you, onii-san~ You're the best brother ever!"

_'If only you knew.'_ he mused, before flashing them his most handsome smile.

* * *

_Tap _

_Tap _

Tap

"_Sigh..."_

Misora Naomi finally arrived at the headquarters. She could no longer wait, and she believed that she had taken too long to recover and investigate. Now it was time to meet L again and join him in the fight against Kira. L, her justice. She nodded and prayed for the best.

She wanted to stop the villain, alongside her L, as soon as possible. Hopefully, her new theory would shed light on the case. Her theory being that Kira might be able to kill with other means other than heart attacks. If that was true, and she were able to tell L, she just _knew_ she'd get her justice.

She breathed deeply in an attempt to relax herself. And imagining her fiancée right beside her, she entered the station with the poise of the FBI agent that she always was ,with him.

Cheesy, admittedly, but none of it mattered.

But..., unfortunately, an increasingly bad feeling dawned her when she had found out that nobody involved in the Kira case was at the headquarters.

"No one's here though." The man said, and everything went so quickly for her after that.

.

_"I am working with L in this case."_

That was the start of her downfall.

And now... inside the head of a frozen Naomi, a thousand thoughts, emotions, and feelings surfaced all at the same time.

Who... would've thought that she'd meet and get to know about the Police Chief's son. Who could have thought that he would convince her of his greatness? And who could have imagined that he would charm _her_ to give her real name, a mistake that led to her fiance's death?

"I am Kira." Were the last words he would ever hear.

She turned around from the boy after those hideous 40 seconds...

And she walked to her fate.

.

No longer remembering who this "L" was.

.

.

**END OF CHAPTER 7**

_**Coming Soon:  
**_**CHAPTER 8: Cameras**

* * *

**REPLIES TO ANGELS**

**foggraven- **Thank you for the comment~! XD And I'll try to make the family do that. It'll be hard, but I'll try. XDD

**Honeyfern1218- **Thanks for the review~! And here it is, the next update~! XD It certainly came quicker than the previous one. Hehe

**kitty tokyo uzumaki- **lol. Light, being kinda sexist, assumes L is a boy. Hehe. And I'm glad you liked that chapter and that it was worth the wait. XD And thanks for the review~! ;)**  
**

**Burnedspy- **This came in quicker than before and I will try to update quicker! I'm glad you also think this is a good story and I sure do hope I can maintain that! XD Thx for the review! :D**  
**

**Girl-luvs-manga- **TADAIMA~! Ahahaha. And Thank you for the review! \o/**  
**

**RukiButterfly-** Thanks for the review~! XD Glad you liked the LxLight moments there~! Sorry there wasn't much in this chap on the pair but hope y' liked it anyway! XD**  
**

**oturanlife123- **Yay for Genderbending~ Lol. I'm glad you gave this a chance btw, I know the concept wasn't particularly easy to sit with. XD Thx for the review!**  
**

**scythe657- **Thanks for the comment! And yeah. haha. I wanted to see that happen. What did you think? Did it seem rush or OOC? You can be frank. ;)**  
**

**Nadia Blackrose- (ch3) **Ah, Lawliette really hadn't been much exposed to cases yet. I let out some large hints on this chapter regarding this. ;D And I am flattered that you thought this was solid and mature~ XD ******(ch4)** It can stand up as a canon story?! *Celebrates* lol. And whew! I was wondering how to do that nicely as I follow the canon. Glad you thought I succeeded. Hehe. **********XD (ch5) ***blushes* Genius is a strong word. XD But really?! I didn't read that story yet! hahaha. L here just had a diff. purpose than the male one so it kinda got changed. *Now bookmarks that part of the manga* lol Thanks for pointing that out! Lol** (ch6) **

* * *

**...**

* * *

**PLEASE PAUSSEEE! XD**

Thanks for reading~! If you're not in so much of a rush, do tell me what you thought!  
I love reading all sort of feedback~! 3


	8. Cameras

**DISCLAIMER: **I WISH I own Death Note

**A/N: **THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THIS FAR! HUUUUGGSS! Special thanks to those who let me know their thoughts via reviews, or even favs, subscriptions, and adding this to their C2s. xDD

* * *

,..

* * *

**CHAPTER 8: Cameras**

It was just another weekday. Which, unfortunately, meant that she had to go to school…

But Lawliette did not want to go to school. She had not slept for almost _two_ days straight watching all those surveillance footages with the FBI agents. She could feel her head twirl and twirl around…

"You didn't sleep, Ryuzaki?" Matsuda asked worriedly. She had let take turns to sleep for a few hours, but it seemed it was too obvious that she didn't take part of it. What could she do? She could not put what those agents died for in vain aside, there was simply no time to sleep. The others felt the same too, but _they_ were normal human beings…

But then, a time later, they suddenly got a call from Aizawa, who she sent back to the headquarters, telling them that Rey Penbar's fiancé had information. She had been reported missing by her family for the past few days. He said her name was Misora Naomi.

Misora Naomi.

Lawliette asked Watari to go and search her name despite being fairly certain how she knew the woman. It was a bit awkward to treat your own adoptive father as your assistant, but in a sense it was true. And she watched BB do that every time to the point that she could naturally do so again.

Watari showed her the photos and Lawliette frowned. It _was _her; she possessed the strength and intelligence that could easily have made her _the_ best agent in a few years.

So Ray Penbar was the fiancé that she was talking about? What a small world…

But... that would also mean she must have been with Penbar, and may have figured something out. Kira had just got to her first.

_Damn_

Damn it all.

But with those premise, they could narrow the search to the two families that Penbar investigated. It was their only lead. But as she rummaged her brain precisely what families he investigated, Lawliette felt a heavy thump on her gut. She did not like it, she did not like it at all. She frowned deeply before turning to her allies.

Chief Yagami's family would be one of them.

"Buchou…" Matsuda voiced out in worry while the other's expression stated that they felt the same way. It was one of the worst situations a policeman could understood that… but even if there was less than 5% chance that one of them was Kira… she would not hold back – even the chief, thankfully, stood by the same thing. Something like this – your own family, and in her case, _friends_ – being suspected to be that inhumane maniac… no one would keep calm.

But instead of avoiding this challenge, they would go through it head on – with full force. And when she was determined to go full force, there was really no holding back.

Otherwise?

_There would be no use doing it._

* * *

TODAI

Lawliette seriously wanted to skip classes, but she had already ignored more than enough classes. Dropping out on this meant that she also dropped the reason why she came to Japan in the first place. Besides, Watari added that she would need to be around normal things – do things her age did - so to keep her sanity. A lot of things _had_ been thrown at her too harshly and too quickly that it worried both of them.

So there she was, trying her best not to fall down. No one noticed though, she had always appeared groggy and her eyebags had been there for weeks on end.

So, yeah… she attended the classes. Only to sleep through them.

"…Mukahi-san…" the teacher called asking something beforehand. She stared and so did everyone else. She shifted her gaze to the board which had a math problem. L didn't hear what he wanted her to do was, so she could only just go ahead and solve the whole thing.

Little murmurs here and there were heard. And they stared at her all the way until she returned to her seat. Apparently, the professor just asked for the formula.

Lawliette only shrugged.

**…**

During their lunch under the usual Sakura tree, Lawliette had _finally_ earned enough energy not to sleep. But watching Takada and Rokko's prying and worried questions, a part of her certainly wished she hadn't.

"What are you doing sacrificing so many hours of sleep?" Rokko asked anxiously pointing at her eyebags, almost touching it.

"This and that." She answered lethargically and Rokko poked it gently to make his point. Lawliette didn't flinch, and just sighed in slight exasperation. Then she recalled the little scene just after the class.

"What about you then, Rokko-san? You appeared flustered yourself, especially after the phone call you received at the start of the break." She asked, changing the topic.

"I don't know, not really. It's about my uncle." He shrugged. "Mother was worried about him. He hadn't come home to his house for two days straight now... and when they called he _always _answered idiotic replies… _more __than usual. _And that's saying something." Rokko muttered staring into the sky, probably remembering all the stupid things his uncle did.

Takada shook her head at Rokko's failure and proceeded into interrogating Lawliette. It was time to use her Mass Communication education to the test.

"Now… back to the topic at hand…" She smiled congenially. "Did you get yourself a boyfriend, Lawliette?" She asked feeling, quite frankly, someone from TMZ. And as always, Lawliette and Light remained (somewhat) cool… while Rokko overreacted.

"*cough* wha- *cough*" he composed himself by swallowing air. "O-Oi!"

Lawliette smiled calmly, and Takada was led to think she might not even know what the connection was. Really, even geniuses didn't know _some _things.

"I assure you I have nothing of the sort."

Takada decided to make sure of it anyway. TMZ style.

"Lawliette, a boyfriend is someone you see as more than a friend. You do things you can't do to your friends – although things have changed a bit nowadays – like kissing, and you want to be with this person most."

Rokko raised an eyebrow and was about to ask where that came from, but then for just that instant he saw it. Lawliette and Light – they looked at each other and freaking _blushed_. Even Takada, despite the fact that she was uncharacteristically fantasizing about something, noticed it too. They looked at each other, simultaneously assuming things.

But if by some chance – Rokko sure did hope not – that they _were_ no longer j-just friends, then that didn't explain why _she's_ so tired when _he_'s as refreshed as ever. He didn't think they would have _that_ kind of relationship, so why?

They were probably jumping to conclusions. Yes, they must have been.

But Takada seemed to have been way ahead of him with the interrogation. "In any case, you are bothered with something that I don't think has anything to do with your love life." Frankly, after some instantaneous reflection, he felt that he really was the dumbest in the group.

Talk about painful to the ego.

But all those hits to his pride were blown away when he saw a sudden change of emotion in Lawliette's eyes. A burst of sadness- so to speak, and his hand moved by itself to hold hers. She smiled, and he did too as he saw her slowly get over a feeling that must have been recurring inside her countless of times.

"A friend of mine just died." She finally uttered and he gripped her slightly tighter while Kiyomi apologized.

"Oh. I'm sorry… for asking."

"It's fine." Lawliette answered dismissively and took a strawberry cake. "Here. Have some dessert."

Silence passed by as everyone waited for Rokko to take the cake. Mentally, he panicked. Not only did he have relatively no skills in directing an intellectual conversation; he was basically the one causing the tension! So much for being the most popular guy in High School...

Slowly, Rokko gestured to take a cake. But the Takada seemed to have remembered something.

"Uhm. But before that." Takada paused and held up a camera; Rokko recalled she was waiting for a chance for quite some time. "I bought a latest model. I want to take a picture of us!"

Lawliette tilted her head. "Why?"

"To preserve memories. To capture moments in time~"

"Ahh." Lawliette nodded in understanding and stared at the camera. "You know… when we get famous, I think these pictures would be worth a lot of money…" She recalled seeing baby pictures of famous Hollywood actors a few years back. '**A**' had a knack for collecting them.

Takada sweated dropped at that, while the guys only stared. "Lawliette…"

"HAHAHA! It's true though." Rokko exclaimed, while Light remained impassive. Light was simply in a much worse mood than this morning. Rokko could not take the hint though and grabbed his shoulders and pulled him in the group. "Come on, now!"

"Smile~!"

_Click!_

**_..._**

YAGAMI RESIDENCE

Light came home and found that the house was locked and wondered why nobody was home, it was unusual. He rummaged his bag for his spare keys, but as he did so, unfortunately, he remembered that sad face of hers when she said a friend of hers just died.

Such a weak girl. People die, they did every day. If one friend/acquaintance was lost then she just ought to find another one, no? It wasn't that he didn't value human life, he just didn't see what was the big issue of them dying. Well, of course, minus what he was doing. Killing evil is meaningful in itself, after all.

But he mused that he was not that different. He was still human, albeit losing his humanity in due time. Perhaps that small thump on his chest, when he saw her sad, was because of that.

In the end Light managed to shake the thoughts away, and much faster than before. He had become better at dismissing those disturbing thoughts of her – a subtle sign that he was really getting closer and closer to becoming a god. Even _she_ couldn't keep him away from his goal for whatever reason she could do that in the first place.

He nonchalantly went up his room, and reached his door to find very disconcerting changes. His door knob – which wasn't supposed to be turned all the way up – was at its maximum height. He automatically tilted his eyes down and saw the paper was still there. And then he shifted to the other side of the door and he frowned instantaneously. Very deeply.

The lead, a trap he set up, was broken.

Someone had been into his room. He frowned.

And someone would be in deep trouble.

* * *

Later that day, Lawliette arrived to their temporary headquarters dressed with the same set of clothing as before - BB's attire, only with a white shirt.

"Ohayo, minna." She uttered as if it really was morning. But considering the hours they worked, nobody cared.

"'Hayou…"

"Have you taken enough sleep?" She asked Matsuda and the chief who were the only ones there at the moment. They were allowed to go home or at the office and it seemed these two did neither.

"Hai."

"Matsuda-san." She said, looking at his eyes. She was sure why it seemed so familiar, now... it explained a few mysteries in the past like that phone call in Space Land and the feeling of familiarity when she saw Matsuda. And she smiled at him out-of-nowhere, making him wince.

"Your sister is worried about you."

He flinched further, blinked, and stared at her in puzzlement before his expression turned that of surprise. He gulped and quickly ran outside with his phone. "E-Excuse me."

"Take your time." She smiled lightly at the fact that the world really is such a small place, but considering what happened to Misora… she knew it was not always a good thing. She then turned to the chief and asked politely,

"What about you, Buchou?"

"I called them. I don't think I should go home looking like this." He answered scoffing in slight amusement, stretching his arms as if his disgruntled state was something to behold. Lawliette smiled.

"Thank you for your hard work."

"Likewise." He nodded with a smile and followed her to the living room where they had already set up the cameras. Soon enough the others arrived and she assigned them to the other family for courtesy. Only she and the chief would be watching the Yagami family.

Ironic, really. They were the ones who wanted to avoid doing that the most.

**…**

During the hours they had watched the family intently, she saw that there was something odd about how Light was acting- he was _too_ natural. And her intuition was telling her he's suspicious – and with current circumstances wherein they didn't have much of a lead, she could not afford to ignore it. She frowned. There was no way he was Kira, so he _must_ be suspicious for something else entirely… right?

Right- and that was what she was going to find out. She would stand by that proving that. Unconsciously she held the hem of her shirt, imagining her scarf was there.

She swore to never doubt a friend ever again. And she could only pray this would stop soon.

**...**

The two continued watching, and for the duration of the whole thing her mentality had been full faith in Light- that he was _not_ Kira. She looked at his father who had also barely had any sleep and was yet wide awake- alert to find alibis for his family, just like what she was trying to do despite no one knowing it.

But then she flinched. He suddenly brought with him to the bed a set of unfamiliar magazines. She knew it was the magazine he bought earlier when he left the house.

She tilted her head in puzzlement.

What was he doing staring at those girls with almost no clothes?

"Light…" his father asked trying to mask the disappointment in his voice. She shifted her gaze back to Light, who was staring at women he didn't know for a relatively long amount time. This intrigued her since she noticed that he had been avoiding looking at _her_ lately although only when he was off-guard. After all, he knew better than to be obvious and let her know he was avoiding her… But she knew anyway.

Perhaps by feeling ,or by intuition. In any case, a very vivid image of _something_ popped up her head and blood rushed up her cheeks. She just recalled that short kiss she had with Light. It was clear that he said it was only to shut Sayu and his mother up… but still-

She shook her head of the thoughts.

She returned to analyzing what was so interesting about such girls. Admittedly, she disliked him looking at them for such a long time but since she still wasn't sure as to _why_, it didn't take long for her to dismiss the irritable feeling inside her away.

Also, it was odd she saw a lot of girls, wear revealing clothes around campus and Light never did bother to look at them. It was odd since when she overheard Takada asking Rokko something about when he was going to stop eyeing random girls, he simply said he couldn't because he was a 'guy'.

Well, Light was a guy, too...

Men are so complicated.

In any case, she just watched him passively as he hid his magazines again and listened to his father mumble something about how he could not believe his straight-laced son would be into that stuff.

"What stuff?" She voiced out making the old man flinch. L only stared in anticipation.

Chief Yagami gulped, but ended up musing that considering how eccentric L was, he should not be surprised no matter what. So he answered as if he was talking to a 3 year old who could afford knowing these things already.

"It's something normal 17-year old boys normally gets interested in." He did not mean to be rude, but its true – everyone knew Ryuzaki was far from ordinary.

"So why not let your son be normal, at least in a few aspects of his life?" She commented making the old man slightly look away in ponder.

Lawliette slowly recalled how… strained Light was. It must be hard to try acting so perfect all the time, and he could not blame him. Yagami Suichiro really was a great and honorable man – any son would want to make him proud. But she realized that, assuming Light really was into that stuff, then his father might have expected a little _too_ much…

After a while of pondering, he looked back at her and mumbled a short sentence of agreement. She then returned her line of sight to the screen and watched him eat potato chips as he studied. It was weird… that simple scene felt like it had a complex cinematography inputted in it. She shrugged and passively watched him write with his right and eat with his left.

As she observed him, she started to wonder what happened to them and their relationship. The way they were now was so... different from when they first met. She had some ideas of what these changes were, of course, but these issues were the type she was still getting familiar with.

But amongst all these uncertainties, Lawliette knew one thing:

That she really wanted to be close to him again…

* * *

A few hours had passed, Light was still studying and she found it odd. Did Light need to study so much? _She_ definitely didn't… Maybe he was used to over-killing it perhaps?

And then as if on cue, Watari came in with the news that criminals that were shown in the 9:00 news were killed by heart attacks. She felt an odd sense of relief that she had never felt before with regards to criminals dying.

Did she lose the feeling of sympathy towards the countless criminals that Kira had killed? Or was her relief that no one of her friends were watching television at the time, making their alibis spot-free.

And yet… it was still noteworthy that criminals died _right after_ they appeared on television, even with such light crimes. It was as if he was desperate to prove that he was not one of the people they watched.

She just couldn't shake off the feeling of suspecting… Light. She clenched her fist. Just what kind of friend was she?

Besides, even if say… Kira need only imagine killing, there should still be some sort of facial expression – but there was none in any of them. So then Kira wasn't among them, right?

But her brain never did follow her will; it continued working. Somehow, she came to a point that if by some chance Kira was one of the Yagamis, then that would mean that Kira had already reached the level of a god.

She felt like cursing.

She needed to find better alibis.

A part of her wanted to believe that it really was divine retribution – if only Kira didn't need face and the name, then maybe she would have. She mentally pushed the thoughts away. She was thinking about it all wrong…

But would she _really_ be able to suspect her friends? She had felt too attracted to them already that it was almost out of the question. What should she do? This was the first time she had been faced with such a dilemma and she wanted it to end.

But first she would temporarily relieve the chief of the tension.

"Please don't misunderstand me." She added as the chief celebrated prematurely at the advent that they're finally taking away the cameras. She stated that there was no suspicious activity was _observed_ – she didn't mean that none of them were Kira. No matter how much she wished it.

Everyone became quiet to absorb everything that she had told them, and Lawliette watched them intently. They all looked so tired as well, they will need some rest.

Matsuda was obviously on the verge of crying. She could not blame him; she wanted to do the same. "What... do we do now?"

"I will do personal investigating for a while. You will have a few days to rest."

Everyone flinched. "What?"

She stood up and excused herself, stating a few assignments and said that she will go do something regarding the case as well. The rest went to their respective positions and some reread the piles of information that they had collected through the past few days.

"What will we-" Ukita was about to ask what to do when the chief asked seriously why.

"Matsuda-san." She called the youngest of the policemen, and was looking quite befuddled. "Are you tired?"

"Well, I'm not going to lie-"

"Just answer yes or no."

"H-Hai."

"You call me Ryuzaki."

"Hai."

"One plus one equals two."

"Hai."

"Three times three is equals to six"

"Hai."

_Silence_

"It's sad, but our cognitive abilities are getting affected. Besides, you can always research and study what you can which is why I gave you a few assignments. You can go to the headquarters and maybe use the resources there in your own time. I have to do my investigation alone. It is something I would need full attention to. "

"You won't need our help?" Chief asked worriedly and she shook her head politely.

"No offense, but this is something only I could do." She finally stated and headed to the door with Watari. "See you in a few days."

And she left, putting aside the identity she borrowed in the closet for a while.

**...**

L and Watari left with the limo, and entered her hotel inconspicuously to change to her normal clothes. She hugged the scarf she was forced to let go and returned it to its rightful place on her neck.

She passed by the mirror and paused to look at herself. Her hand clenched her scarf unconsciously.

She trusted Light – '_Light'_ wouldn't do those things - and she would not waver… she decided. She erased all doubts in her mind and looked at herself in the eyes.

She was not going to make the same mistake again-

No. She stopped herself.

She could not afford to think like this at all. She understood, after leaving the loyal police men like that, that she could not be so biased-no matter how hard it hurt. She already did her best in trying to get them some more alibis-to reduce the suspicion to zero... but her gut instincts always said otherwise.

And... she was in the middle of a war – leading one side… the side with the casualties and countless sacrifices. She needed to _consider_, in the least, that Kira could indeed be... Light.

And Light... was not Alluka. He was much stronger than her childhood friend ever was. Besides…

She could always apologize if she got it wrong.

* * *

Yagami Light stretched his arms in relief as he went down the stairs one morning on his way to school. With the cameras and bugs gone, he was no longer a suspect. That and Ryuk could finally eat his apples again, officially stopping those disturbing withdrawals he was having.

His mother would be so surprised to see that fresh basket of apples suddenly empty.

_Tap Tap  
_...tap

He paused. As soon as he stepped on the house threshold, his eyes immediately paused to the gate. A very familiar figure was there standing stiff. And he didn't know what to think or how to react for a moment, but he managed to catch his composure. As always.

"Good Morning, Light-kun." She made a slight greeting bow while he entered his nice-concerned-Light façade, which at the moment wasn't exactly a lie.

"Lawliette…? What's wrong?"

But instead of answering his question, she smiled. "Let's walk to school together."

Light agreed hiding his reluctance, and moments of silence overcame them for a few minutes as they walked. It was broken by Light and that fake smile of his.

"Is there something bothering you?" he asked nonchalantly noting a strange gesture of her thumb wiping her lower lip. Knowing her, it was probably just one of her mannerisms. And this one screamed _nervous_.

He felt worri-No, he stopped himself and his hand flinched reflexively making him glower at thin air in comprehension. Light was always good at reading people, there was no doubt about that. But _empathizing_ with them?

God did not empathize, and he _almost_ did just that. That would bring him on the same level as them.

"Light-kun…" she whispered as she stared at him in anxiety – as if she was fighting with something, and for some odd reason he unconsciously did not want to know what it was.

It was then when she stopped her tracks and he turned around. She had her eyes closed as if concentrating, and she abruptly opened her eyes – revealing determination and glimmer he had never seen before.

His chest constricted.

"Light."

He flinched. "...hai?" He muttered pathetically, unable to look away.

Heck. He _couldn't_ take his eyes off her, and she only stared back- albeit much more firmly.

"Light." She repeated, her tone gentler, and he didn't know what to make of it.

.

.

"I am. **L**."

.

.

**END OF CHAPTER 8**

_**Coming Soon:**_**  
CHAPTER 9: Temptations**

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**REPLIES TO ANGELS**

**Burned Spy- **Heheh. Thank you for remaining a reader, then! And as I'm seeing now, I highly doubt I'll ever abandon this story. xD I'll do my best to keep it good and thank you for the review~! :D **(ch5) **Here it is! I'm so sorry it's so late! Hope it was worth the wait. :)

**scythe657-** Eh? You thought so? That's such a relief to hear (or rather, read) that! hahahah. Thank you for the review~! lol

**kitty tokyo uzumaki-** Thank you for the comment~! And yes...! I wonder about that too. xDD Let's see!

**Girl-luvs-manga - **Thank you for the comment! And I agree. I always had a thing for him, too. hHahahha

**lafayette722- **I'm glad to hear you're enjoying this thus far~ I'll try to keep it up and thank you for the review! xD

**Rukibutterfly-** Really? Yay! I'm happy you liked the different interactions~! They were fun to write. Thank you for the review! ;D

**sugarhigh44- **Thank you for the review~! And I will so definitely going to continue~! Ahahah**  
**

**foggraven- **Yes, yes he was! Well, he's supposed to. I identify with him the most anyway. xDD Thx for the comment~

**AraelDranoth- **Ehh? *blushes* I'm happy that you thought so then. Hope my writing and the story could keep it up. xD Thank you for the review!**  
**

**Brendabanner1234-**Here it is! I apologize for the delay and I can only hope it was worth the wait~ Thanks for the review as well~! xD**  
**

**Hi- **Lol. Thank you for the review and I'm happy you thought so! hahaha

**fangirl -4-ever-xx - **Yay~! A fellow genderbender fanatic~! xDD *huuugs* Thank you for the comment,btw! xD

**deathnotefangirl133- **thank you for the review~! xDD And Yayy for Genderbenders! Hope this was worth the wait~

* * *

...

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Thank you so much for reading! :D

Please do know that your feedback, especially reviews, mean so much to meeee! XD


	9. Temptations

**Thank you for the support so faaarrrrr! *hugs***

**WARNING:** A very short chapter! This was supposed to be _way_ longer but I cut it since the two parts didn't quite fit in together…  
BUT since I did that… it means I'm halfway done Chapter 10! \o/ Still hope the chap's worth the wait and I'm looking forward to reading your reviews~!

**DISCLAIMER: **I WISH I own Death Note

* * *

**…**

* * *

**CHAPTER 9: Temptations**

"_I am L."_

Yagami Light froze for a moment as a million thoughts ran passed through his head.

"_**I am L."**_

She must be drunk.

Why would she say that? Was she alright? Was she undergoing some sort of sickness? Perhaps his first hypothesis was correct? But this was a very bad joke to be roused by liquor.

But what if it's true? Surely, she _was_ aware that he knows her real name, right...?

_Assuming Mukahi Lawliette _was_ her real name._

He cursed.

But he willed himself to calm.

If by some chance what she said was, indeed, true; then it all made sense—her lack of sleep, as well as the increase in depression in those deep blue orbs of hers—

But there were tons of possible causes of those. And yet he couldn't quite shake the feeling of… wanting to believe her.

Why?

Did she already figure out that he was Kira?

No, surely not… she had no basis.

But as overwhelming thoughts passed by his head, he stopped them immediately. He emptied his mind. He didn't know if that stare of hers was analyzing him coolly or watching him in innocent anticipation that it actually looked like. Either way, he was not about to lose his cool.

He sighed stoically, instead. "Really, Lawliette, are you _that_ bored?"

"I'm serious but I don't really mind whether you believe me or not." She said firmly, with utter seriousness Light felt bad about.

"Then why say it?"

"I… wanted to prove something."

"At my expense?"

"Hai."

He scoffed. "You just don't change, do you?"

"Sometimes… I wish you didn't too." She finally said, making Light gape at her.

Lawliette trusted Light… but not the circumstances that might well be out of their control. She felt bad about doubting a friend, and the disability to—despite the lack of evidence—fully believe in him. It was a horrendous feeling for someone like her who treasured these relationships despite looking the opposite.

"So what are you trying to prove then?" Light asked, pulling her out of her reverie. Light… was fairly nervous despite looking cool as he always did. He was certain he didn't do or react in a suspicious way. But if Lawliette truly was L…

"What are you trying to prove?" He repeated at her silence.

"That you're not Kira."

"…"

"You're still the number one suspect though."

He frowned. "I don't see how I can be Kira."

"I can." She was not going to lie. "But I don't think you're him though."

"How can you be so sure?" Light asked trying to make it sound as if he was joking.

"I… just am."

He didn't speak for a moment trying to think what the bloody hell she meant. It took him a few seconds to see… and he didn't know what to think. His eyes twitched slightly at the implications.

She believed that Kira was – and always will be – evil. But at the same time she also believed that _he_, Yagami Light, wouldn't do anything she thought was 'evil'. And yet… at the same time, paradoxically, she still considered that he may be Kira.

In other words, she was basically telling him: '_I believe in you Light, but if by some chance I'm _wrong_… then please forgive me for I have to order your execution.'_

He can only shake his head at the conclusion. "You're insane."

"Yes. Unfortunately, I am." She answered bluntly without looking away. "I'm sorry but I can't afford to be biased about this." Then as if by reflex, she looked down on the gray asphalt floor they were standing on. "…so many had already died, after all."

Light stared at her. He killed most of the people that he did in order to taunt L. But if Lawliette _was_ L, then—he cut himself off from that line of thought. It was heading nowhere near preferable and he simply willed himself to react like a normal.

"I understand your dilemma, but… I still can't help but be offended. How do I prove I'm not him?"

"Don't do anything."

Considering the turbulence she was already causing, a few more disconcerting words and he might lose his patience. Thankfully he was still (albeit barely) holding to most of it. He sighed.

"You say that as if it's easy…"

"We know that words and actions are different things, Light-kun." She said, looking away. "But in your case, doing something will probably make me suspect you more." She answered and the vein he tried so hard to push back finally appeared on his head.

"That is unfair, Lawliette."

"It is, isn't it?" She shrugged in the end. "I don't have much of a choice. You're basically the only suspect."

_Pop_

Ah, it finally exploded.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He asked annoyance evident in his voice. She should not be able to deduce he was Kira just by that though – anyone would feel irritated if you are being 'falsely' accused as someone you're not."Do you have any idea what it feels like to be accused like this?"

"Perhaps…, but as you said: I'm insane." She said and he glared at her, seeing something else in those deep dark eyes. Besides, where could all that cool come from? She felt guilty there was no doubt about it—he knew that expression, but there was still a huge amount of confidence in there.

Surely, it wasn't because she didn't see him as a threat at all at the moment? Kira _was_ the most feared killer—probably in all of human History!

But then his eyes widened. He realized – whether or not she _was_ L… He…He wouldn't be able to do_ anything_ to her! If she died, then anyone in the investigation team might conclude that he was Kira.

But she didn't know he could kill by means other than heart attacks, now did she? If she died by some accident, there was a very small chance they'd be able to suspect it as his doing. He wasn't even certain Lawliette was part of some investigation team!

Indeed…Lawliette didn't know too many things about Kira. That_ must _be it. This was a trap to corner him – and that little psychological effect on him was an added bonus.

He wanted to glower at her but he managed to pull himself back. He was on the verge of simply…exploding…but he quickly caught back his composure. But what approach could he take?

Should he kill her?

.

.

No.

He mused for an uncomfortable second as to why such a ready answer came to mind and Light started rationalizing. Perhaps… he was going about this all wrong. The approach, he meant. Surely, he, Light Yagami, could turn into this situation to his favour _without_ having to kill this insane girl in front of him, yes?

Besides, there was no rush. This would all be so… boring without her or L, regardless of whether they were the same person. He was a god, and death gods and lady luck had been on his side all this time. He doubted they would ever abandon him and the great cause that he was pursuing.

In any case, since she paradoxically 'believed' in him so much, then he would take advantage of that. He would make sure that she never knew what's coming at her – and when the time came, after he had done playing with her, he _will_ throw her away—and kill her with his own hands.

But first, he would make her follow his will so it will be either he convince her that he was not Kira… or let him see the situation _his_ way. Thinking about it this way, he realized he just found another enthralling game. He would be able to… make use of her—to _play_ with her—before he would lead her to her death.

He sent her a fake smile that slightly made her shiver. He placed his hand on her cheeks, and willed himself to hide all the malevolent thoughts that had been running through his head.

"Thank you for trusting me with this information." He said, feigning innocence. And out of all the lies he had been saying effortlessly lately, this one had some truth in it. "You know, despite how your conclusion actually sounds."

"A-Ah…" Lawliette uttered.

There was yet another short silence that passed between them and Lawliette tried to look straight into his eyes. She couldn't help but feel the darkness that was in his eyes, musing what it meant. But then her thoughts were quickly cut off the moment she felt his hand on her back. Before she realized he had already leaned down and was pulling her to him.

"What are y—"

Light cut her off by locking his lips with her oddly luscious ones. Luscious was a disconcerting word, but he mused he meant it as a hunter sees its prey. It was carnal either way, but he'd rather not think of anything else at the moment.

…not that it was easy to actually think at all.

It was troubling why such actions could hamper a god's cognitive ability.

And even with his large brain… he was losing all sort of reason. But at the moment—

"…l-light."

She separated from his pecks but he didn't listen. His kisses resumed into giving her series of pecks on the lips. But as she struggled, he found himself deepening it by impulse. He didn't like impulses, but he would let this one slide.

And only because she liked it, _of course.._.

Ryuk cackled. "I didn't know you were so good at this."

Neither was he.

In any case he let himself indulge in this newfound ecstasy he just attributed to his imminent win against this odd girl… who had been making him doubt himself since the first time he met her.

He held her tighter and she winced but sending a surge of glee through his body nevertheless. After several seconds of finding a way out, Lawliette finally managed to separate from him slightly.

"This is wrong…"

"Why?" he asked and recalled how strongly they believed their first kiss had no meaning. He rummaged through his brain in an attempt to find out what a girl would like to hear at a time like this.

"I don't think something like this could be done so casually, It doesn-" she said only to be cut off by Light covering her mouth once again with his lips. He felt her try to push him away, and he parted his lips only to whisper.

"I like you." He said sincerely and her eyes widened. He had seen Sayu and his mother's reaction during their soap operas to know what that would do. But he didn't give her anymore time to react and gave her a kiss—an even more passionate one than before.

Her struggle weakened and he felt the sense of pride and victory overcome him. But, still, he continued wreaking havoc in both of their senses.

Light believed that the tables have turned, and he sneered internally.

L?

Captured.

…

Light continued to kiss Lawliette to oblivion until he finally received a decisive push from her. It wasn't harsh – it was soft, but strong. She was still uncharacteristically red and warm, and for a moment he expected her to say what he wanted to hear.

But as they stared into each other's eyes, she smiled apologetically at him. And Light knew he would not like what was coming.

"Gomen ne, Light." She said calmly. "But you are an important friend to me. I'm sure you only love me as a friend, as well."

He frowned. _What the heck dd that mean?_

But she was already walking to the school, and he found himself frozen for a moment before passively following her. It was then that he finally realized (his cognitive abilities returned much too late).

Did he just get _dumped_?!

_Twitch_

Nonononono

Ryuk oh-so-helpfully cackled. "You got dumped! Kukukuku~"

But he remained silent, sure that he wouldn't be able to say anything good.

'_I had never been so humiliated in his life!'_ he mused vehemently, clenching his fist in annoyance. He ignored that heavy feeling in his gut—that weakening of his legs—and attributed it to the humiliation he was feeling.

That's right. His pride was hit. His pride – that's was all. And whether or not Lawliette was L – he was _not_ going to let her get away with embarrassing him like this. He was a god – no one has the right to reject him.

Especially not _her_.

_Tap_

_Tap _

…_tap_

He continued to follow her, making sure to be a few steps back. She hadn't turned back on him at all, and a part of him wanted to look at her face right now—to see if she really was apathetic about this as she let on.

A part of him wondered if she was hiding something from him.

But whichever it was, he _will_ go through his plan—no matter what. He would make her fall for him, play with her, and finally… end her life.

It was a perfect plan for a dish served cold. _Perfect. _And yet...

He didn't know why he wanted to cry,

.

.

**END OF CHAPTER 9**

_**Coming Soon:  
**_**CHAPTER 10: Temptations (Part 2)**

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**REPLIES TO ANGELS  
**

**fangirl-4-eVEr-Xx-** Haha. She diiiid~xD And I'm glad you're fine with the cliffy~ xD Thanks for the comment!

**BurnedSpy-** I did, I did! I dare say I'm slowly getting faster update rates. Hahah. Thanks for the comment, btw~

**hitomi65- **Thank you for the review~! Hope I can keep it up! xD

**Girl-luvs-manga-** Gehehehe. Thanks for the comment~ And yes. xDD Only L can do that!

**Seishirou Hitsugaya-(ch5) **Whoa! How embarrassing. xD 1st and 2nd point are honest mistakes from my part. I'm sorry! I'm goiing to edit it when I do my usual edit-several-chapters gigs. The third I think was roused from my constant sentence-changing lol. Rokko just didn't like L being worried for Light. ;)** (ch8) **Here it is! Hope it was good enough and thank you for the reviews~

**Akemi- **ahaha. Here ye here ye~! xD Hope it was fine! And thank you for the comment~! xD

**Ayamari Uta- **Pity that you didn't get to review all chapters but thank you reviewing the previous one! xD I'm glad that you liked everything as well! I can only hope I could keep it up. Hehehe. And was it shocking in a good way? lol

**Cloudcookulander-** Thank you for the review~! And hehe. The drama? Some more will come. ;) And glad you liked my writing as well~! xD**  
**

**ramenXritsuchan-** Eh? That's really good to hear! xD I was worried how to make people surprised about the events they already knew about. Haha. Thanks for the review~

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...

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Thanks for reading!

If you don't have to go at this moment, please leave me some feedback!  
I love to read every single one of them~xD


	10. Apples

**DISCLAIMER: **I WISH I own Death Note

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**…**

* * *

**CHAPTER 10: Apples**

Deep brown eyes stared out the curtain wall that covered a side of that room. It was a nice day, giving a nice view, and hence the curtains were all closed. His eyes followed the slow movements of the leaves.

The leaves… Leaves were falling, slowly, using its width to seemingly delay the effect of gravity.

Just like L. See? They even started with the same letter.

But gravity was strong, and air resistance could only do the leaf that much good. Inevitably, gravity would win. The leaf would fall to the ground.

Only to be crushed.

It was then that a sigh came over him, and he managed to muffle it enough so that no one could hear. A couple of days that had passed since that… day… and Light continued to wonder if it was finally time to take her life. She was certainly making it easier for him to imagine so...

But if he did kill her right then, everything would be _too_ easy and even he looked for fun. The fact that it could be a trap barely even weighted in his mind that day. Challenges were fun for him, and L and Lawliette certainly provide him with that—whether or not they truly were the same person.

The particular challenge was erasing any hint of belief on her head that he was Kira, but he knew her stubbornness might be on par even with his own. And a corollary to that challenge would be to make her trust him completely–but, somehow, he wanted more than that.

…simply because he liked hard challenges, of course. And hard challenge was not redundant. It was an accurate term to describe his current endeavour.

Indeed. He, Yagami Light, would make her fall for him. The deeper the better – and when she _did_ that would be the time to get rid of her. And if what she was saying was true, then that meant he'll be completing two challenges at once having the pleasure of sweet revenge along the way.

It had been a few days now, but there was still no progress. After he was… rejected, he backed off for a few days for many reasons. One was to compose himself, and the other as some sort of formality. They both know he wasn't really the aggressive type, and if he moved too much she may deduce what he was trying to do.

So there they were, acting all normal in front of the two people who everyone thought was always cool. But to his eyes, they were extremely prying and annoying.

_Especially_ Rokko.

It was after that class when the four of them met by chance.

"So just to be sure you two are not an item?" he asked rudely pointing a finger at them in alteration. He smirked and joked inappropriately. "Light-kun actually got friend-zoned…"

"Hiru!" Takada yelled whilst he remained impassive for the whole time. Rokko scratched his head in embarrassment. He idiotically didn't notice that he said that out loud.

"Ahaha. Gomen, gomen."

Really… he should be more careful at what comes out that huge mouth of his. Light was already considering writing his name on the Death note, and now he's thinking of very painful cause of deaths.

"Ne, Light, I want an apple." Ryuk commented out-of-nowhere, as if sensing whatever he was tempted about.

The Shinigami just grinned.

"You look like you'd want a bite, too. Ge-he."

**…**

One time, during one of their breaks, Takada asked Lawliette to come with her to the rest room. She said something about how normal it was for girls to go to the rest rooms together to the point that it was almost a rule. Lawliette didn't fully understand why that was so, though, but then there _were_ a lot of 'rules' in society that didn't really make sense at all.

This one, though, _probably_ had something to do with the closeness and privacy women want to have as they talked to each other. She found a slight smile climb up her face at that thought. _Close_, she repeated internally. She and Takada were close friends now, right? That's really good since Takada was her first female friend.

When they arrive, the two started talking about Politics and Philosophy. Yes, in the rest room. Takada had started getting used at the oddness of situations when she was with Lawliette, and she didn't mind. Takada noted that Lawliette was like a guy in the sense that they would let her speak all she wanted. The only difference was that Lawliette actually understood what she was saying…

It was good thing Takada was smart, otherwise she'd pick topic Lawliette wouldn't understand, especially a topic that the other girl wouldn't see the point of talking about. Lawliette didn't speak much though, she only commented when she had to. She was never talkative, anyway.

But then, to Takada's surprise, Lawliette soon blurted out things that Takada recalled as an issue very much connected to their lesson in Philosophy earlier that day – a subject which Lawliette so graciously slept through. Although… considering the subject, her sleeping in Seiza position really made her looked as if she was just meditating.

"If you have someone you care about… just to what extent will you adjust your integrity?"

Takada stared at Lawliette, whilst the latter was in her own world. She was thinking about how well she knew it—that she could send Light to his execution if she proved that he was, indeed, Kira. For she knew that Kira was gifted with a brilliant mind, too, and it was inevitable he would affect people. And it worried her that there may be much more victims than she had feared. Whoever Kira may be, heart-attack or not, he _will_ be putting more and more people to their dooms.

"I don't know. I'm sure I will keep my dignity." Takada answered, despite being unsure herself. "Let's just hope I never get into such a position." She paused. "Are you and Light really not dating?"

"Hai." Was all she replied, not particularly knowing how it got there. Kiyomi looked at the mirror and then to her curiously.

"What do you think about Rokko?"

"He's a good friend and fun to be with, I suppose…" Lawliette answered frankly and threw the question back. "What about you and Rokko?"

"Where did that come from?"

"I don't know. You're questions, Takada-san, are also rather random."

Takada blushed. "I was just curious." She said and looked at herself and smiled. "Rokko and I? We're good friends."

"Sou?"

"Hai."

_With benefits_…

"Takada-san?" She flinched. "What's the matter?"

"Hmn?"

"You were smiling."

"Eh? I was?"

"Hai." This time, it was Lawliette that smiled. "You two must be great friends. You must love him very much."

"A-Ah." Takada nodded reluctantly pushing down her blush. "Only as a friend though. I love someone else as a man."

Lawliette stared at her blankly, but for some reason Takada thought she had an idea of what she was speaking about. "Lawliette…" She asked, holding her hand in the process.

"What does Light like?"

* * *

...

TENNIS COURTS, the next morning

_Creak_

It was morning again in TODAI, and a small well-hidden frown was pasted on the freshman representative's face, especially as he entered the tennis court protected by metal wires.

It was the first thing in the morning, and he was dressed in a rather… sporty attire. Light was particularly alert that time, and he knew he had to be even more careful now… now that she seemed to be conducting some sort of odd tests…

"Are you sure about this? I was a Junior Tennis Champion twice in the past…" he muttered feigning congeniality as he made tapped his racket with a palm.

"I'm not particularly bad, myself, Light-kun." She answered. Light knew she doesn't go out much, looking at her extremely pale skin, so that meant she must be playing inside her house. They _were_ pretty rich... Hence chances were, she shouldn't be that good.

_Pak!_

He ate those words the second they started.

His eyes were wide and slowly, he turned his head to where that intentional gust of wind—that so graciously passed a foot of him—headed to. And there it was: the tennis ball.

"O-Oi. Lawliette, have you ever heard of warming up?"

"She who attacks first always wins." She answered coolly, and he smirked.

'_Is that so? Then let me disprove that.'_ He announced and dribbled the ball. He wouldn't let her have her second return ace, that was for certain.

_Whoop_

He threw the ball up, and with one swift motion of his upper body, a strong hit targeted the win.

**…**

They had a wonderful game. And he won, fortunately—No. 'fortunately' wasn't the correct term. It was 'understandably' or even 'expectedly'.

Sure, there had been a chance that he might have lost if she wasn't a girl, but it was still slim. Nevertheless, her performance was impressive. Really, Lawliette never had failed to disappoint him… even when it came to these types of trivial things. He didn't really understand what the point of that was, though – it could only prove that he wanted to win, like him, and pretty much everybody else.

This couldn't be some sort of ceremony on their 'friendship' either – something to tell everyone that they're buddies. They had been 'friends' for weeks now, after all. It meant something else –

His eyes widened slightly at a thought before forcing them back. Did she mean that she would fight back if she had to? He looked at her stoically.

Did she find out what he was planning?

But in the end, he shrugged.

It was just another challenge he would inevitably overcome.

He heaved a sign and so did she, before she finally walked to the center of the court for the traditional handshake. He followed and smiled like the smile that the usual Yagami Light would do.

His eyes twitched for the nth time as he watched that distracting tail of clothing. What _was _it with that scarf? She didn't take it off even as their game heated. Somehow he was starting to think that that scarf had an incredibly deep meaning for her and he didn't like it.

And didn't she know he—or anyone strong enough—could kill her even without using the death note with just that scarf? Given enough planning, he can definitely neutralize her self-defence skills with that scarf.

And as they shook their hands, everybody else cheered. No one approached them and they just looked at them without closing in as they exited the fenced court. Light knew they were revering them in the most lax sense of the word, while Lawliette had no idea. She was probably used to people avoiding her.

And soon, they were a few meters away from the crowd when two people ran to them. "S-Sugoi, you two! I didn't know you were that good!" It was Rokko with Takada following closely behind. "Well except when someone said you were actually a two year Junior champion, Light."

"I've seen pros play, as you may know." Takada stated, assuming that everyone knows her father's a pro tennis player. "And you two can pass that level easily!"

_Click!_

They turned to where it was.

_Click!_

There it was again. But this time in a different direction. Lawliette narrowed her eyes but realized they were just students.

"What's that?"

"Someone took a picture of us?"

"Well, we are a very popular group. Didn't you know?" Takada commented and Lawliette wiped her chin as if it had invisible mud in there somewhere.

"Hmn…"

"What is it?"

"…that explains those odd students in the bushes every lunch time…"

_Silence_

"What?!"

"That's just creepy."

"I guess." Lawliette shrugged. "I don't know what is so interesting, though..—Oh. Yeah, the pictures could be a lot of money in the future."

"Well, it would be a bummer if we don't actually become famous though." Rokko said, willing himself _not_ to comment about the fact that those people with camera may just as well be waiting for something _else_. He sighed. Now that he knew they have stalkers, he and Kiyomi would have to be more wary.

Well, maybe they wouldn't have to if those other two would actually look at them the way they wanted to.

What the heck is with them, anyway? They're emitting a type of atmosphere that he doesn't even know. It was so obvious that they are… attracted to each other but to what degree – or maybe even to what _type_—was impossible to know with those two.

In any case, Lawliette looked at Light differently and who could blame her? But… she was too good to pass out, besides Light already had Takada thinking of him every single minute of every day.

Maybe it was time to move.

And so, on their way to classes… Rokko asked her casually if she was free later that night. And to his surprise, Light was the one who answered for her.

"She isn't. We'll be going somewhere."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She'll be interrogating me."

"Pardon?" Rokko tilted his head and frowned. He shifted his gaze towards Lawliette who, to his dismay, nodded in confirmation.

"He's right, Rokko-san. Why do you ask, though?"

"N-Nothing. I just wanted to ask you out sometime… it has been a while since our last date."

"Oh."

Lawliette looked down and for a moment she wanted to agree. It _had_ been a while since they hang out alone. But she was simply too busy with the case right now that it would not feel right to accept. She smiled at him sadly, and told him she'd inform him when they get the time.

"What about you, Light? It had been a while since _we_ went out, too…"

"Like I said, Takada-san, Lawliette and I have some business to do."

"I see… then…" She looked around and pondered. "What about teaching me in English? We both know it's my worse subject. I have an exam in my last subject, too…"

"You got a 90, Takada-san."

"But not the 100 you two have." She stated. "I would have asked Lawliette, but Rokko told me he'd want her to seat-in during our next class because our professor's a huge fan of hers."

"What about you, though, Kiyomi-san?"

"We're not required to attend. Well, Rokko kinda needs to. There's just some exercises that will probably end up getting a take-home assignments, anyway. Rokko here has lots of connections. "

"Ah…"

"So, if that's alright with you Lawliette."

"I don't see why not." She smiled. "I'm interested to see that General Chemistry subject anyway."

"It's decided then!" Kiyomi grinned. Rokko nodded. Lawliette remained impassive.

And Light seriously wanted to punch Ryuk.

**…**

"_kukukukukuku~"_

Light glared. _"Shut up you damned death god."_

"Light-kun?" Takada smiled. "Here're my references. I'm particularly having rouble with chapter 10."

"I see." He said and took them before scanning. They were currently the backyard of the school, where they usually ate lunch, alone, when most of the other students were having lunch.

As he read through the chapter he heard a crunch beside her and stared. Takada was suddenly holding an apple in a way that Light wanted to sigh about. _Seriously,_ he mused, _she should be more creative than this._

She pretended to be shy about his stare and extended her apple. "Want some?"

"Light~ can I have it instead?"

"No, thanks." He said dismissively and quickly finished up his read-through and started telling her the main points.

It had been several minutes since they had started and Light could sense her irritating ogles. She said she was going to say something to him, and Light had an idea what she was trying to do. He was popular, but only a few girls really dared confess to him. Even then, he was a standard. Takada, apparently, was confident she'd be up to that.

Takada looked cool as usual but he can tell just how nervous she was. It was then that she bit her apple again and raised it infront of him. She took care to make the bite marks look clean. "It's really good."

"I'd rather have one that other people haven't touched, thank you very much."

"Okay…" She smiled awkwardly before finishing it off as they studied. She then started shifting so that they were basically half a centimetre apart now. She leaned down as if to look at the book, and then raised her head to look at him to ask a supposedly innocent academic question.

Light had been aware of Takada's feelings and had pretty much deduced by much hidden clues her little flings with Rokko, he never thought she was _this_ deluded.

_Don't touch me._

"What are you doing?" he asked stoically as she seductively yet hiddenly touching her chest in the process. Really though, _who did she think she is?_

But more importantly, who does she think _he_ was – thinking he'd be affected by such low things. He's a god – such human impulses can't affect him. For most part. And now, with Takada, this situation easily slides to that category.

"Oh, what do you mean?" She asked separating. And he sighed internally.

_Very unsightly for someone called 'Refined Takada'._

But as much as he wanted to get it straight with her, Light need not necessary enemies. She could be an asset in the future. It was wise to keep her clinging to hope.

So, he blushed.

"I…let's just study, okay, Takada-san?" He smiled. Her eyes widened and she blushed several shades of red.

"I'm no good with such proximity. I'm sorry." _Do that again and you'll die in a freak accident._ He mused and turned his eyes over to the shinigami hovering above them in anticipation.

"Aaappplless." Ryuk chanted. Light sighed.

'_Ryuk. Using metaphors simply does not suit you.'_

His eyes shifted to Takada who was then shyly playing with the left over apple on the ground. She looked happy, he groaned mentally and he would have to ready himself for her next advances.

Well, in any case, they wouldn't be able to finish studying with her in that condition. "Apples." He said. "Where did you buy them?"

"Lawliette gave them to me." She paused.

"She said you liked them."

**.  
.**

**END OF CHAPTER 10**

_**Coming Soon:  
**_**CHAPTER 11: Pursuit**

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**REPLIES TO ANGELS**

**Fangirl-4-evEr-xx – **Hahahaha. True! Banzai for dumping Light! Lololol. They were never quite together tho. xD You know peeps nowadays. Kissing and not quite being together and all. xD Thx for the comment~

**Rukibutterfly- **Thank you for your review! I'm happy to hear… er… read that you found the chapter entertaining! I tried to make this chap a little longer as well. xD Hope it's good but you can be honest. Haha

**Seishirou Hitsugaya- **Hahaha. You'll find out soon! xD This chappy was kind of a break from the passion thing. Lololol. And *Cackles* You've already planned their family?! Hahaha. They'll be so cute though. I'll add it to my to-draw list. xDD Thanks for the review, btw~

**BurnedSpy- **I'll answer the rhetorical question anyway. Hahah. I left it there because it'll jump to another scene and I wanted that scene to be the final so yeah. xD Anyway, I agree Light can be a jackass. Lol. And thanks for the comment. xD

**Kitty Tokyo uzumaki**- xD Light will find out about BB and A. Just not soon though. xDD Hope I make good scenes about that. Oh, and thank you for the comment~!

**Girl-luvs-manga – **Dumped as in friendzoned. xD Or maybe it was something else… xD Who knows. I'll try to show it in L's POV or something someday soon. Haha. Thx for the comment!

**Bbymojo**- Indeed! Thank you so much for giving the story a chance…, and for the review. xD I'm happy to read that I managed to write her nicely. Hehehe. Hope she can continue being likable and hope this next update didn't disappoint. ;)

**Artemis Persephone Jackson**- Thank you for the comment~! I don't know whether it's drama-good or drama-bad though. Hehe

**Foggraven**- **(ch8)** Hai! Ahaha. I'm sorry to cut it that way but the following scene sooo did not follow well. xD Hope this was a decent chapter and thanks for the comment~

**Scythe657**- Hahaha. Yeah. Yes he was. xD I just imagined him not caring at all I guess…, before Lawliette. Pfft— Anyway, I hope the intensity was good and thank you for the review~! xDD

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**…**

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Thank you so much for readingggg~! xD Hope you enjoyed this chap but whatever you thought please tell me! :D Thanks~


	11. Pursuit

**Thank you so so so much for reading this far! Special HUGS to those who reviewed, fav'ed, followed, and C2d the story! I love you guys!**

**WARNING: **Long chap ahead! Hope this makes up for my annoying update rates. xD Enjoy and please don't hesitate to leave some feedback!

**DISCLAIMER: **I WISH I own Death Note

* * *

…

* * *

**CHAPTER 11: Pursuit**

GOLDELUXE

Light and Lawliette were once again in their favorite bakery, actually going through that made-up arrangement Light spoke of due to his 'annoyance' of Rokko. Frankly, he was surprised that Lawliette went along. Then again, this was a chance for her to interrogate him without having to initiate anything herself. He did her a large favor. And in retrospect, he wasn't sure anymore if it had been so wise.

They sat there in the most isolated part of the store to ensure privacy – both for the sensitive topic as well as Lawliette's sitting position. "Now let's get to it, Yagami."

"You're really going to interrogate me?" He asked jokingly.

"I wasn't supposed to?" She asked bluntly. "You couldn't have said that just to keep me from going with Rokko right? That would be very unlike you."

His brain froze somewhere during the last second. _Damn_, his brain juggled around with just a few words. Why was he so shaken? Surely because it wasn't true—_no_,he told himself firmly, _of course it wasn't_. He was shaken simply because he was surprised.

"I'm surprised you figured that out." He said, keeping up his cool façade. He almost lost it when a faint tint of red climbed up her cheek but she shook her head. "Well, if you must interrogate me than I'm fine." He smiled. "I was thinking of proving my innocence quickly, anyway."

Lawliette nodded awkwardly and went on with the questions. She gave him the messages Kira sent her and, of course, Light answered correctly. Lawliette added a little trick though—she said there was a fourth picture when there wasn't. First it was to see just how he would try to defend himself – she knew very well how much pride Light had, otherwise he wouldn't be looking at most people as if he could crush them easily with his eyes closed.

The second was that there would be a natural bias. Of course, this would hold true for _any _average person but Light was not average. Having a presupposition that there were only 3 despite it actually lacking some sense led her to think that he was the one who sent the message – that he was, indeed, Kira.

She didn't like the idea to the point that she wanted to punch herself, but it was a lead she couldn't ignore. In any case, she decided to keep the conversation as casual as possible. "That's all, Light-kun. Thank you for your time."

"That's it?" He smiled. "How did I fare?"

"The chances of you being Kira have increased."

"…what?" Light asked in genuine surprise although she could tell how much effort he was pulling out to appear as composed as possible. "Did I say anything that only Kira might say?"

"Not necessarily." She said and revealed the supposed "fourth" picture. He stared at her in befuddlement.

"How was I supposed to know there was a fourth one?" he said.

"Because you have an exceptional deductive ability Light-kun." Was all she said. "But no need to fret. The percentage only increased by a percent or so."

"But still—what about the other suspects?"

"There aren't any."

"What?" Light raised his tone but kept the acceptable volume. Lawliette was impressed at his composure and guilty at how she's making him feel.

"Calm down, Light-kun. If you're not Kira I can assure you nothing will happen to you." Lawliette said, but inside she was wondering if it wouldn't be different if he _did_ turn out to be Kira.

And he smiled sadly before placing his palm over his head as if to keep it from exploding. "I'm sorry. Being suspected as the person I despise most is just…" He paused and looked at her. "…and by _you_, as well."

"Light…" she said and frowned. She looked away like that time she turned around the first time she dumped him. Light couldn't tell what was on her mind—and at the moment, the uncertainties regarding this issue disconcerted him more than her proximity to the belief of him being Kira.

"Do you truly see me only as a friend?"

"You are a precious friend to me."

"But is that only it?" He asked, looking at her. "I'm sorry to ask this of you during my interrogation… but did you not feel anything but disgust when we kiss?"

She looked away. "Shall we have some dessert?" She said firmly and he sighed.

"I'll buy them."

"No, I'll-"

He raised his hand to stop her from standing up. He smiled under her stare.

"Anything for the girl I love."

…

He walked to the cashier and a few thoughts ran through his head. _Should he vomit?_, he asked himself. He was acting, of course, and it was beyond troublesome. But it was something he had to do to shake her. He decided to make her fall for him and make her trust him completely _before_ killing her. That was the plan.

But then he pondered. _Why did it felt as if he really meant it?_

"Hey watch it!" Some guy said and he apologized. He seemed to have halted his steps without realizing it. He wiped his sweat and cleaned his throat. He cleared his mind of troublesome thoughts. As he told of his order and waited, half of his mind started wandering again.

Of course he had to _sound_ like he meant it, otherwise there was no point in doing it in the first place. Besides, maybe he was just the type to feel interested in women he couldn't have? He had always been a lover of challenges.

And he, Light Yagami, could have anything he wanted. Perhaps he didn't have her _yet_ but if he did she wouldn't be a challenge in the first place. It was time to prove his abilities again, but this was the first time he tried seducing anyone. In any case, nothing would change in his plans; he was still going to have his fun of crushing her… and these feelings.

"Apples~" His eyes twitched.

'_Shut up you damned death go-.'_

"Here're your orders, Sir!"

"Arigatou," he said, flashing a smile, and as usual—the girl cashier melted. He heard Ryuk cackle from behind.

"Such a lady-killer."

"Uh-huh." He shrugged and as he went past a divider signalling he was near their table. "Watch me kill the hardest 'lady' to kill." He said and right on cue he caught side of her and the table.

_Doki_

Her elbow was resting on the cold surface and her palm covering half of her face. Her eyes were far, she was thinking of something, and her face was wearing such a beautiful shade of red.

"How long are you going to stare like that, _Light-o?_ She'll notice you sooner or later you know." It was followed by his trademark cackle.

_I wonder what she's thinking about…_

He couldn't explain the feeling when he considered that she was thinking of his last words to her. But he couldn't let his guard down. She could just be thinking of cake, or something.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked and she quickly sterned-up just after that instantaneous expression of surprise. Light narrowed his eyes but pretended to shrug. _Why would she try to hide it so well?_ He mused…

_Unless his initial assumption was correct._

His heart started throbbing. He told himself it was due to excitement that he might be winning this 'game' of theirs. "Here's my pay." She said and extended her hand. He shook his head and said it was his treat. She, in turn, shook her head as well. "That won't do, Light-kun."

"I was the one who invited you here, remember? It's customary whoever invited the other pay for the other's order." He smiled and he knew she wouldn't be able to make a comeback without 'offending' him, etiquette-wise. So she just looked down at her food and started eating her cake.

He caught her looking at his order. "Are you not going to eat?" He shook his head and pushed it to her. "It's for you."

She stared but didn't say anything anymore. He was partly surprised. She must be tired of replying to him. That, or she was _shy_. He really would like to believe it was the latter.

_RING! RIIINNGG!_

He flinched and he looked for his phone. He realized that both their phones rang, simultaneously. They looked at each other, eyes wide with a mix of surprise and fear, before finally finding the mobile devices.

It was his mother that called him. And to his surprise, her eyes constricted in shock the same time his did. Did she receive the same news?

...that his father had a heart attack.

**...**

HOSPITAL

For a moment, Lawliette really thought that the Chief was killed by Kira – by which case she would have doubted Light less, naturally, since he was his father. But the seeing the Light that he was lately, it was starting to become easier for her to imagine him as Kira.

It was so disconcerting, the increasing coldness in his eyes. Especially when looking at other people. She was lucky that she was his rival; the intensity of his dark stare appeared to be weaker with her…

She forced herself not to think of his confessions.

"I'm sorry Mukahi-san, my son dragged you here." The chief smiled and she smiled back.

"Oh, no. I came here by myself." She said and let out a deep breath. She had a lot of explaining to do. "Watari called me."

Light flinched while the chief squint his eyes. "R-Ryuzaki?" he asked and almost flinched up. Lawlitte held his shoulder to keep him stable. Light on the other hand was very surprised.

"Father?" He asked and the chief started panicking for an excuse.

"Ah. I—"

"It's fine, Buchou." She said, getting him stable before returning to her seat. "I already told him I'm L." And she sighed at the Yagami's stares. L looked sadly at the chief. "I'm sorry for hiding my true appearance. It's a safety precaution since you know my real name."

The old man's face lightened up. "Does that mean he's clear of suspicion?"

"No." she stated bluntly. "I just think him knowing and his deductive skills would prove useful for the investigation."

"I don't understand. Doesn't it mean that you trust him completely now? I mean, he knows your face and name. If my son is Kira then you should be dead by now."

"If she did die, though, that will only prove that I'm Kira."

"Light…"

She held out her hand as if to make her point. "See? Impressive deduction skills."

"Don't worry, Tou-san. I'm sure it will be proven that I'm not Kira." He smiled at his father reassuringly. "Besides, remember what I told you before? It is I who will personally take Kira to his execution."

Somehow, though, the statement meant something a little different to him now. Light winced when he felt Lawliette's hand on his. She smiled at _him_, too. "Yes. We will make sure of that."

"A-Aa." He uttered and she returned to her usual expression and looked at them alternatively.

"Besides… I think it is the power to kill that is truly evil. This man we know as Kira was just an unfortunate soul who just happened to be given a curse. And for that, I feel very sorry for him."

His father nodded, while Light pretended to agree. Internally though, veins were popping all over the place. She was _really_ making it easier for him to want to put her name in the note. And now that he was sure she's L was just one reason why.

They had short conversations afterwards that ended with the Chief being told to rest as much as he could before returning to the headquarters. Light sweetly gave him a peck on the forehead while Lawliette found an odd mix of happiness and envy in the scene.

"Did you mean it? Me assisting in the investigation?" Light asked when they reached the exterior of the hospital.

"Of course." She said. "I don't lie about those kind of things."

"I will have to wait as my father is still unwell." He said. It was a natural thing to do; after all, he was a caring and perfect son. And smiled. "Thank you for giving me a chance." He said even when he knew she just wanted to increase the time she could watch his movements. He even added a crack in his voice to feign pain.

But to his surprise her eyes widened and they were immediately filled with the kind worry he knew too well. His eyes dilated but he kept any further expressions back. That beautiful tint of red was there again. He wanted it to remain there.

"What were you thinking when I bought the orders?"

"What do you mean?"

"You were blushing."

"I wasn't."

"You can't be thinking of another man."

"No."

"You can blush like that for a cake?"

"…" She looked away. He swore to make her succumb to him soon, and he could barely control his chest anymore. She must be holding back because he was a suspect. But before he could utter anything else, the car arrived.

"Good bye Light-kun." She said firmly and got inside without even saying anything else.

Light watched her enter the limousine with Watari. He stared at the shinigami blankly, hiding his irritation behind his strong cold orbs. "Remind me to kill that old man someday."

And eventually, he relaxed… somewhat recalling those faces she gave out… and the thought that _he_ could be the reason behind them.

"So… what is that smug look in your face now?" And he frowned and turned away ignoring Ryuk's rants. One question pulled his attention back, though. "Have you ever considered giving up ownership of the death note, Light?"

"Have you ever considered giving up apples altogether?"

"No."

"Then you have my answer."

He sighed and walked home. As he stared at the straight walk way dimly lit by light posts and defined by the tall fences of the houses, he recalled her words from that bland hospital room. "You know, Ryuk. I never thought that obtaining the death note was a misfortune."

"Really?"

He frowned. "What's with that tone?" Ryuk shrugged.

"One of the rules in the shinigami realm stated that any human who gets a hold of the death note will encounter nothing but misfortune."

Light only smirked. A lot of challenges were at him lately, huh? But he was certain he could overcome every each one of the, in his own pace.

"Then you'll get to see an exception then." Ryuk cackled quietly at the answer as he followed Light. He turned his head around to the direction they came from and laughed even more.

"Maybe I will."

…

Lawliette stared blankly at the window as she imagined an invisible man running and avoiding the obstacles on the sidewalk. She pushed away those fluffy feelings on her gut that was only getting stronger and stronger when she was with Light.

Don't get her wrong, she had heard and read about this from books and now understood what it was. At first, she knew he was getting too close so she blocked his attempts—telling herself there was no way Light would see her _that_ way. He must have misinterpreted the feeling. But she started doubting it.

But… it was too much of a distraction. She couldn't have it—but she couldn't avoid him either. It would go against what would be the practical plan if she was being objective and… he might get hurt.

Especially since she was still doubting him.

And so, she willed herself to go back to the case. To be objective about this and prove for sure Light was not Kira, despite remaining open of the possibility of otherwise. First off, the interaction between the two Yagami's gave her hope that Light may not be Kira. That scene was touching yet… kitsch. That it was kinda corny especially in Light's standards.

In any case, the investigation would start moving, and her feelings—those she could let pass before as it was only friendship—for a suspect were not something she should entertain. Especially when it was not just placing guilt inside of her…

But also distracting her to no end.

"Watari… Let's call the meeting." She paused. "On Nispedana."

"B-But. Isn't that—"

"It's fine." She said with finality. She figured it was time for the team to recognize fully that she trusted them. Besides, the Yagamis who knew about her already would be in the team soon so there was no point in hiding her true identity and her home.

Furthermore… seeing Light and the Chief, along with the images of Sachiko and Sayu… she wanted to make further connections with her _own_ family. "If all goes wrong…. I can always move to mother's house, anyway." She said and she could see Watari's prying eye on the rear view mirror, and it was understandable.

They bought the house that had been unoccupied for a decade since her grandparent's death. It was some sort of sanctuary, and Watari thought they were paying for the maintenance to keep it clean and function solely as a symbolical place for her.

"I don't want to just know more about them." She said answering her unvoiced question. "I studied in their university, so I don't see why I shouldn't try to live in her old home as well." Lawliette suddenly wanted to wake up and see the ceiling that her mother once stared at. Look at the window where she once watched the rain. Climb up the stairs where she probably slipped on least once in her life.

Seeing just how lucky Light was not to lose anyone of his family, just made her want to experience that more.

* * *

NISPEDANA

Lawliette let out a very heavy sigh at her companions' reaction. She was wearing her normal clothing and, at the moment, was standing there subject to their shameless gapes. They all had their mouths wide open effectively making them look like utter idiots.

_It all started a few minutes prior._

Lawliette walked casually to the living room where everyone had been waiting. When she turned the knob slightly, she overheard them speaking. Something about how tiring it had been, how sad that they have yet to find another lead, and… the how freaking amazing her room was.

"Mann~!" Matsuda mumbled enthusiastically. "This is one epic room—"

"Hello, everyone."

They all blinked, but it was Matsuda who couldn't hold his tongue. "Who are you?"

"I'm L."

_Silence_

"I'm fairly sure L's a He."

"Ryuzaki and I am the same person."

_Silence_

Matsuda looked closer. "Now that I think about it… you _do_ look alike!"

L nodded. "I dressed up as a man to avoid the chief's recognition. I am one of his son's acquaintances, after all."

_More Silence_

"But now that he had already seen me with Light, and I already told Light I'm L. Then there's no longer any reason for me to remain in disguise. It's not particularly comfortable, anyway."

And she waited for them to absorb her words.

It was taking quite some time now, though, and was getting quite offending. She had already stated her explanation and didn't see the need to be bothered anymore. But they didn't exactly have all the time in the world, either.

"I assure you, my deductive skills had not diminished after dressing up as a woman."

"We d-didn't mean that! This is just a bit… weird. You act completely different from that person." Matsuda stuttered while she shrugged.

"I had a good role model." She answered and lazily walked to her chair. She sat at the comfortable couch in Seiza and browsed the papers in the coffee table as if no one was staring at her. She slightly smirked to herself when she eavesdropped on their conversation, apparently they thought she was out of earshot. Slightly.

"She's so tall now that she's not crouching." Ukita whispered grimly to Matsuda. He felt smaller than ever.

"A-Ah."

"Ukita-san. Really, now, why do you care so much about height?"

"Ah, I-"

"You should be very careful, Ukita-san, I can easily hear your conversation. It may prove a fatal flaw for you in the future."

"I-I'm sorry."

"Well, that was embarrassing…" Matsuda commented quietly, stifling a laugh. Ukita pouted. "Shut up." The small policeman muttered back embarrassedly placing a smile on L's face. She liked times like these. They did not take the case any less seriously, but comic relief really did give a heavy weight on maintaining sanity. _Especially_ theirs.

She was about to make a snide comment when her phone rang. She held it up. "Lawliette!" It was Watari, and he sounded extremely urgent. "Emergency. Turn on the television channel 5."

She gestured for Ukita to turn on the television and turn to the aforementioned channel. The first thing they saw was the face of a reporter muttering something about how they are being held hostage by Kira if they didn't show his message. A moment later the screen went blank and the name 'Kira' appeared in a similar way she did her cyber appearances.

L frowned at how poorly made it was and she wondered how Kira could make something so idiotic. She was just watching it passively for a second until he suddenly went to prove his powers – by killing two innocent reporters that he alleged as bluntly 'speaking against him'.

She yelled for Watari to bring in two television sets and she gripped her arm chair. She ordered the others to force the studio to stop airing but no one had their phones on. And two more innocent lives were taken in front of her eyes.

Blood started boiling inside of her—frustration, despair, and hopelessness she had always been terrified with surrounded her whole being. Kira. That _bastard_!

She winced when she heard Ukita curse and ran to the door. She yelled for the others to stay put, thinking that since Ukita could no longer be stopped she needed the remaining two there so she could get to them easily when she had already planned out the course of action.

Nothing bad should happen to Ukita, anyway, that's what what she told herself to keep her remaining composure. They took the necessary precautions. He should be able to do it.

And in less than five minutes? She had been proven wrong. And in an incredibly painful way.

"_Oh my god!"_

"_Ukita-san!"_

"**NO_!"_**

She could barely hear everyone. Be they the reporters or her companions. Time slowed down as she blankly stared at the screen as Ukita clench his chest for air and drop on the floor, gasping for life and begging his body to halt its end. She heard Aizawa curse and head for the door when she ordered him to stop.

"Oi, Ryuzaki!" Aizawa yelled but backed off when he realized she was also pulling herself back. There was also the fact that they were shocked that Kira seemed to have evolved somehow. Whatever was running through her head, be they calculative or emotional, she couldn't quite follow their flow.

"Calm down, Aizawa-san." She said, and at that moment they all knew she was also telling that to herself. "Ukita-san is gone. You will die too if you go there like that." She paused as if she was struggling for air. "We can't lose you, too, Aizawa-san."

The man frowned in agony and faced the wall only to hit his head with it. He didn't even feel any pain. Matsuda, on the other hand, approached her. During the past few interactions he had with her, he had come to realize that she was much more caring than any of them would realize. It was easier to see now that she wasn't acting as someone else.

Matsuda knew she was probably be blaming herself at the moment. And he wanted to help, somehow, so he approached her to tell her in his own little way that the team was there for her. But his eyes widened and he froze instantaneously as soon as he saw her face. She was glaring at the television—incessant tears flowing out of her anger-filled eyes. She stayed like that, unmoving, as if she didn't even notice him there.

It was a surprising sight to say the least but he forced himself to shake his stammered state away and held her hand tightly. She barely flinched at his gesture, and she shifted her deep softening gaze to him. She smiled at _him_, making him feel all warm inside. It was a weak smile, but a smile nevertheless.

"It's interesting to see that you actually have excellent timing to man-up." She uttered and he blushed immediately. He turned away and gave her his clean handkerchief. He nodded at her quiet thank you.

A moment later, a police car parked in front and Lawliette immediately took out her phone. She called the superintendent and asked for a coordinated action. The weak man immediately told her they were not cooperating, but changed immediately when he watched two of his subordinates die at the scene.

She really wanted to punch him, but right now he was convinced and he was going to cooperate. She mentally sighed and gave him the instructions – that changed slightly at the sight of a bus suddenly running to the building.

Everyone panicked in shock while she forced herself to be analytical at least, for whoever was driving. It was pretty obvious who it was though. _Well, that's certainly one way to get in without seeing their faces_, she mused. She quickly gave the head the slightly modified instructions and the other two gave out breath of relief when she told them afterwards.

.

And an hour later—"Buchou!" Matsuda yelled in relief as the chief entered the hotel relatively unscratched. With that tired look on his face, she could so easily imagine how he threatened those ratings-hungry producers in the studio. Light inherited that determination, after all.

She thanked all of them for the good job and asked them to rest as he re-watched the videos as well as the contents of the two other tapes. When they offered to watch it with her saying that they may be able to see something that she didn't, albeit they knew that was next to impossible. She politely refused, saying that after her briefing the next day, they would go to Ukita's wake. That meant they should look decent and without hangovers. Besides, she added bluntly that she wanted to be alone and they probably wouldn't be able to help anyway.

And the others only nodded for as rude as it sounded, it was all true.

* * *

Light had watched the poorly-made televised speech his supporter made on his small room television. It seemed like his father won't be going home today, either. Ukita-san just died too, they must have been devastated.

_She_ must have been devastated.

He frowned. He should be glad about this. If only the sad faces of that girl as well as his father didn't go appearing in his head randomly. He put the thoughts aside and returned to analyzing the second Kira. He obviously took the eye deal… but more importantly this person was not very smart.

He wouldn't be useful, that was for certain. He would be more of a threat than be of help. He would need a way to find this idiot first before the police or else the death note's existence may be revealed.

* * *

There were three tapes and one of the other two would be aired depending on the Police's answer to the first one. Since they answered no, the tape applicable would be the one that demanded that she would die in 4 days as there was no way the superintendent would die in her stead. It was an either-or deal. She watched the whole thing for the whole night over and over again as to ensure her gut feeling, especially since she was still shaken by past events.

As time passed she became certain – there was someone pretending to be Kira. And this person was more powerful than him, too… Perhaps less cunning, but definitely more powerful.

"Are you sure about this, L? You'll get killed!" Matsuda said, stating the obvious, when he watched the tape. She shrugged.

"I would hate to be killed by someone pretending to be Kira." Everyone stared at her at that. The chief immediately asked her what she meant. L looked at the screen and laid out her premise so they could understand. The conclusion were: the person they're after need only the face to kill; was most probably a woman; and was not very smart.

She asked Aizawa to air one of the tapes later that night – the one stating their refusal, and hence the announcement of her imminent death. She didn't really want to, of course, but it was a step she needed to take. The second Kira held hostages after all, and by airing the tape then at least one of the two Kiras should make a move.

And as a final point in that meeting, Lawliette told the chief to ask his son to finally join their investigation. She made it clear that he was not fully free of suspicion, and she just wanted to make use of his deductive skills. She also added that they were not to say a word about the second Kira, until he deduced it himself. She had to ensure him, though, that whether or not he answers correctly – her suspicions of him would remain at 5%.

She then adjourned the meeting and they went to their companion's wake.

Lawliette mentally sighed as she got out of the car and walked to their destination. She walked next to Matsuda, who was staring at her anxiously, and whispered "Matsuda-san. Stop worrying, I don't cry about the same thing twice."

He pushed his blush and embarrassment away and uttered something incoherent. She smiled lightly. "You can cry too, you know. Just don't make a mess."

"I-I won't!" he yelled, but he somehow managed to lower his voice when their teammates turned an inquisitive stare at them. "B-besides… Ukita and his death are not things."

She smiled. "Good point." She nodded and closed her eyes.

"But I think I already shed enough tears."

And considering this new pace? They were getting closer to knowing more about this Kira, paradoxically, even when there now appeared two.

She wouldn't have time to cry anymore.

.

.

**END OF CHAPTER 11**

_**Coming Soon  
**_**CHAPTER 12: Closing In**

* * *

**REPLIES TO ANGELS**

**fangirl-4-evEr-xx – **Hahaha. Glad you liked the tennis match! Something relieving since I write for a tennis fandom lol. And I'm flattered! xD I'm glad I'm a decent writer and that you enjoyed it. Thanks for the review!

**Foggraven- **They will go out… soon, after much stuff. Lol. And as a little tiny hint about the deaths… I like happy endings. ;) hahahaha. Thank you for the comment, btw!

**Bbymojo- **Thank you for the review! xDD I'm glad Light and L are (so far) still awesome together. I shall try to continue not disappointing you guys. Haha.

**BurnedSpy- **Hope this especially long chapter made up for my long update rate. xDD But you can tell me what you really thought. Ahhaha. And Thank you for the review!

**Guest [4/13/13]- (ch1**) Who wouldn't?xD I mean before he went insane. *cackles*** (ch2)** Glad you found it adorable! I hope to keep doing it. lol** (ch3) **ahahah. I like that saying. xD And it's pretty accurate, too!** (ch4**) Right? Poor weird girl. xD And as a hint for your question: I like happy endings. ;) . Thank you for the reviews and I hope you're reading this. xD

**RukiButterfly- **I'm glad you liked the interactions! I love all characters and I'm glad I'm somewhat making you guys feel the same. xD And yes. Light is jealous and he's in denial. TsunTsun! Light? Lool. That sounds weird. Anyway, Thanks for the review! *fist pump*

**Little Ms. Sarcastic- (ch2) **Yes I do know the difference. :) It had been a while since I wrote that chapter and I tried skimming through it. Why do you ask?

**Scythe657**- hahah. You want to speak in Filipino? I'd be glad to. xD Hi Kabayan! Hahahha. Sorry medyo informal ako magsalita pag Filipino pero oh well. At ang galing Pinoy ka ba?

**Seishirou Hitsugaya- **Hahahaha. Okay! But the Sayu thing will happen but not too soon tho. xD Sorry this chap was late and I can only hope the length made the wait worth it. Haha. Thank you for the review!

**Oturanlife123- **It is that she never failed to disappoint him. Light, after all, likes a good challenge. L is the best challenge the world can offer to him. xD Thank you for the comment!

**Girl-luvs-manga- **hahaha. Yeah. Narcissistic bishies can't. xD Even I probably won't be able to reject him lol. xD Thanks for the comment btw!

**Herondalefan- **Thank you for the review!I'm glad you thought it was excellent and I'll try to keep it up!

* * *

…

* * *

Thank you so much for reading!

It would be even more awesome if you pause before going anywhere else…,  
and let me know your thoughts?


	12. Closing In

Yosh! Finally the 12th chapter! xD Thank you for keeping up with me until now, especially those people who let me know they're still there for the story. Hahahha

Anyway, hope you all enjoy the story but whatever the case I would LOVE to read your feedback! :D

**DISCLAIMER: **I WISH I own Death Note

* * *

**…**

* * *

**CHAPTER 12: Closing In**

NISPEDANA

Light and Lawliette shook their hands as if they will be good partners—which they probably would have, if only they didn't have all the reason to want the other dead.

They let Light watch the videos and he, unsurprisingly, got the same theory. Light looked offended and asked if she was testing him and she denied the claim. She really just wanted more insurance in her theory. The power to kill people like that was something nobody should have, let alone _two._

Light had not even had the time to get comfortable with the place when she revealed why she wanted him there. She wanted him to write a fake reply to the second Kira which obviously offended him, too. Lawliette couldn't blame him, who wouldn't get mad, anyway? But it was a good way to test his mentality even when she already grasped it the first time they talked. She couldn't be so sure now though, she knew he had changed since then. Besides, if this all went well then they would have the second Kira under control.

Light finished within an hour and she was impressed – and scared—by how well-written it was. She shook the suspicions for now; she wanted to focus on the second Kira – the person who was far easier to catch.

Besides… if Light wanted her dead, she should have been dead by now right? _But still… _"Don't you thing the part with 'I don't care if you kill L' a bit morbid?"

He only laughed jokingly in reply. "I think Kira would definitely want you dead." He said, but Lawliette found an odd tone that told her of his uncertainty. She knew that she, too, had been talking to herself a lot like that lately. "But you're free to edit it as you see fit, of course."

All she did was nod and gave the copy to Aizawa to work on. They would reply to the second Kira in two days time, replying too quickly might raise suspicions of Kira's connection with authorities. They didn't know for certain, after all, just how much of an idiot (as Matsuda would say in relief when she hinted the possibility) this person was.

During those relatively vacant days, Light was the one who accompanied L during her late night shifts. It both entertained and annoyed him that _he_ was actually the cause of her lack-of-sleep, and he wasn't surprised when he couldn't fall asleep either. This was one of the days where he told his mother he'd be staying at a classmate's house for a project and, of course, his father backed him up. Not that it was necessary, of course.

He looked around and found himself staring at her. She was rereading the data of the criminals, how they were killed, who they were, how they were shown in television, and many more for the nth time that night. He couldn't _believe_ her—at the rate she was going she should be asleep during _all_ of the class hours in the least.

He shook his head and approached her. "You should really get some rest. You don't want your logical abilities to be diminished, now do you?"

"Of course I don't. It's just th—"

"Sleep." He stated pulling her towards his shoulders. It really amazed him how aggressive he could actually get when it came to things like this. He smiled; it was obvious she (for some odd reason) felt comfortable with him. The fact that she fell asleep immediately – in his, a man who confessed his 'love' for her, arms – was proof enough.

This was the second time he got to watch her sleep. She looked so vulnerable and well… _not _troublesome; he wished he could take her to his side. Everything would be so much… easier in so many ways if he succeeded.

If she still wouldn't then he would have to kill her someday. That was it.

Morbid thoughts, yeah and those type were, lately, the type of things he thought about before he fell asleep.

"You two actually look pretty (as kids nowadays would say it) 'cute', Light." Ryuk commented grinning from ear to ear. Light wanted to punch him.

Obviously, this was just one of his ways to make her fall for him. She was not the type to succumb to mere seduction, after all. He sighed and looked at his future victim. He didn't realize he was doing so for a long amount of seconds before Ryuk pointed it out.

The cackle was the thing that pulled him out of his trance, though. "You're thinking of kissin' her, aren't you Light?"

_Shut the hell up you damned death god._

…

The next day watched their version of Kira, and Light wanted to laugh when the announcer said the police approved of its showing. Wasn't that, in itself, suspicious?

But apparently, the second Kira was as stupid as he feared – replying immediately to them with that incredibly obvious tone of admiration. This person _worshiped_ him, and if this idiot was not regulated then he would—without a doubt—reveal his secrets in a short amount of time.

He frowned and listened to the idiot's speech carefully, making sure he reacted like a normal person. But unfortunately, it wasn't easy, and his eyes widened almost immediately halfway through.

"… I don't think that you posses the eyes." Light mentally cursed. They were perplexed by what that meant and he saw Lawliette flinch.

"—I want to meet you. Let us show each other our death gods."

Death God. _That _**idiot**_!_ Although no one would see the actually meaning, that moment he nevertheless knew this person was no good. He would have to get rid of this person as soon as possibl—

"_**KYAA**__!"_

Light as well as everyone else turned to see where the scream came from. It was Lawliette. He reflexively ran to her. His world stopped when he saw that she was extremely terrified.

"Lawliette." He uttered softly and held her shoulders firmly. Her pupils were so contract that he felt his chest do the same. He called her name again and she wrapped her arms around him.

_Doki_

All he could do was hold her tighter. A lot of thoughts ran through his head… but one thought floated above the rest.

_Why would she be so scared?!_

**…**

Lawliette's head was, that moment, on fire. Images, thoughts, dialogues passed through at the rate of millions of bytes per second. Things happened quickly, but to her it felt real-time.

She was suddenly back in the Wammy house, eight years ago…

* * *

It was in the middle of a huge parcel of land, where the wonderful piece of Victorian architecture stood. It was a beautiful house, owned by the Wammy family for generations and was now held by the last of their bloodline – Quillsh Wammy, who turned in into some sort of orphanage for gifted children.

Somewhere in the large area of grass behind its walls lived a wonderful amount of plants and trees, and under it sat (in a very unusual way) one 10-year old Mukahi Lawliette. She had been there for two years now, and she still couldn't get tired of the place's beauty. It was truly a wonderful place to live in. Everything would have been so much nicer if her parents were there with her…

"Ne, Lawliette." A young boy about 15 years of age with spiky raven hair, baggy black shirt, and very loose pants sat beside her. He was her role model and best friend. "Would you stop sitting like that? You're a lady you know."

"Beyond." She smiled as he sat beside her. "I don't see the connection."

"It's unlady-like, that's all." He said and sat the way she did which is actually the way _he_ sat. "Just stop copying me."

"Why? You said it helps blood flow to your brain… I want to be a detective, too, you know."

"You can sit some other way. You have your own identity; do some other… weird sitting position." He stated as a-matter-of-factually before looking away in sadness. "I'm not worth copying."

She blinked, particularly at his sudden talkativeness. "Why?"

"I…"

"I will kick you if you decide to stop." She said seriously and he replied with a sad smile, before turning it to a playful grin.

"I was born of misfortune." He answered kicking her legs so that her butt would fall to the ground.

"Why?" she asked again as she (attempted) to return to her original position. The young boy kicked her back down again. She rummaged her brain for some other position that has similar effects and she chose the Japanese Seiza position.

The boy nodded in assent and then held a finger up as if he was going to give an important trivia. "Do you know about Death gods?"

She shook her head while he scratched his cheeks in ponder and stared at the clouds. Lawliette did the same. "Not sure either. All I know is that they're ugly, and one of them gave his eyes to me before I was born."

"Why would he do that?" She tilted her head and though of ways on actually transplanting eyeballs. Morbid, but possible.

"I dunno."She pouted at the answer and he laughed heartily.

"Are you really telling me the truth BB?"

"Yeah. You know I'll never lie to you, ne? Kiddo."

And they stared at each other before L tilted her head in ponder. "I still don't see why you're born of misfortune."

"Death gods kill people, you know."

"Why would they do that?" she asked anxiously, disbelieving. BB knew this of course, she really was too innocent. He looked at her at that trademark inquisitive look of his and stared at her deeply.

Her eyes widened and she shivered. She could swear that she saw his eyes turn _red_. And he smiled warmly when he realized that he scared her.

Lawliette, in the end, gulped. "Why do they kill?" She repeated and BB only smiled.

"That was what they are born to do."

**…**

Lawliette stared at whatever blank wall she was facing in aghast. How and _why _would she forget about that, anyway? She seemed to have repressed the memory. But_ what was the reason_? So many questions and memories of _him_ ran past her head. But eventually she calmed down, especially with Light's soothing breath passing gently against her neck.

"Calm down. The term 'Death god' probably just means the power to kill." Light said almost trying to force the thought in her head.

"Probably…"

"What happened?"

She shook her head. She did not want to talk about that memory with anyone just yet. "Not sure. But whatever it was, what you said is the most probable explanation."

Light frowned at her reluctance to speak and watched her cool down and return to normal. But he shrugged. He'll find out soon, anyway.

She sat back on her couch and he stood up and composed himself. His father asked if they should reply again while he commented that if they dig too deeply, then there was a chance the second Kira would sense that they didn't know anything after all.

Lawliette said they wouldn't do anything and leave the rest to the two Kiras, surprising everyone yet again. She explained her flawless reasoning, and her calmness after that panic attack made it all the more impressive. She stated that if they didn't do anything – it will be either the second Kira would send them something that will give them more clues; or Kira himself might send them something and they might get some physical evidence from.

Two days later the former happened, much to Light's chagrin.

Couldn't that idiot just _stay put _and wait?

He/She sent a diary that appeared stupid to most of them – even to him, as well. But he later recognized a secret message telling him that this person was not as stupid as he had initially feared. They would be meeting in Aoyama, which he later researched and found that he/she actually planned their meeting thoroughly.

He stared at the computer and formulated his plan, and recalled it with confidence.

Nothing should go wrong… right?

**…**

* * *

AOYAMA

Matsuda and Light were the ones assigned to walk around Shibuya and Aoyama. Nothing happened in the former, it seemed, and now they were off to Aoyama. As they walked towards a meeting place Light said they should go to, Matsuda watched his back.

Matsuda's head seemed to have the knack of showing memories of Light with _her_. He knew that they already were familiar with each other, it was the reason she had to cross-dress before… but he had no idea they were so… so… _close_.

He remembered waking up in the middle of the night one day and he saw them– with L sleeping comfortably on _his_ arms. That hug during her panic attack, too...

_Oh, man, what is with him?!_ His eyes widened at a thought. _He couldn't be—_

"Is there anything wrong, Matsuda-san?"

"I-Ie."

"You better start acting natural; we'll be approaching a few of my friends."

"W-What?" he asked and then realized that Light probably figured they would fit in more with them and he nodded in assent.

He did not have any idea, though, that the world was that small.

"Ah, this is my friend, Matsui-san. He just moved in from the count—"

"Touta-ji—"

They all flinched simultaneously at whatever happened. The two magically teleported several meters away, out of their earshot, and the country boy was suddenly acting extremely close to the popular Rokko Hiru. He was grabbing Rokko's neck with his arm and they were whispering vehemently about something.

Light frowned. Those two knew each other? This was certainly a very unfortunate turn of events.

Eventually they finished their little whispering session and told everyone that they knew each other beforehand. Small world, they said, and they were just so surprised that they reacted like that. Everyone accepted it though, while Light looked into past memories.

His eyes twitched as he saw the same images and lines that also led to Lawliette's similar conclusions. He just didn't care as much as she did so he didn't notice.

Rokko and Matsuda were related.

Now, now… why wasn't he surprised?

In any case, he walked with the group nonchalantly as he carefully looked at significant places, believing there was no way the second Kira would guess who Ryuk was following.

It was a fool-proof plan, really.

And he was proven wrong by that nut-head the next day. For that day… another tape was aired, and the first thing that idiot said?

"I am so happy that I have met you, Kira-san."

Well, _shit_.

**…**

Light felt tired and had a strong urge to kill this person as soon as he found him/her. That evening, he decided to talk around for a bit before going home. He did not want to go home, but considering that no one was to know he was with the team with his father he couldn't do that too often.

"You're going to watch the tapes all by yourself?" He overheard them when they thought he already left. Well, he did, he just walked back to ask Lawliette if she knew about Matsuda and Rokko's connection – which she probably did. The fact that she may remember Rokko when looking at Matsuda annoyed him to no end.

"Hai."

"When do you sleep, anyway?"

"I saw her sleeping in that position a few times before…" Light pushed the light flush down at a recollection.

"But doesn't she have school tomorrow?"

"I'm fine. I'll be watching Light-kun tomorrow so I doubt I'll fall asleep."

"What?"

"He may be Kira, you know. The second Kira may approach him, and that I shall be watching for."

"Ah…" His father said, and with that they went to their respective rooms to get a short rest. He found that he could not move and just stayed by the door.

"Light-kun, you may catch a cold if you just stand there." She stated quietly making him flinch. He composed himself and approached her, looking as casual as ever.

"You knew I was there?"

"Just now… You tend to notice those things when you're alone. That's what he said to me." She stated passively, to the point he could see that she was not thinking. How could she suspect him and trust him with such important information about her past at the same time, anyway?

"He?"

"An old friend of mine." She stated and he didn't speak. She turned to him abruptly, catching him off-guard.

"The person who told me about death gods."

His eyes widened slightly but he returned them to normal as soon as he could. After all, grim reapers, death gods, shingamis—the world never lacked representations of them. But at the same time that knowing look in her eyes definitely made sure he did not relax one bit. He did not even hear Ryuk's maniacal cackles.

"Are you alright, Lawliette?" he asked anxiously – in two very different senses of the word. "I don't think I see any sense in what you're saying."

"My friend. He must know something about how Kira killed."

He frowned at the possibility that this person really _did_, indeed, know about death gods. He needed her dead before she could come in contact with this person – whoever he was. That damned Ryuk, not even telling him there was other shinigamis roaming around. But odd enough he was being especially quiet at the moment.

"Where is he now?"

"I don't know. It's been years since I last saw him." She answered; giving him a slight hint of hope that maybe he could… postpone her death for a little while longer.

"How do y—"

"I will find him."

"You seem confident." He commented masking his shaken state. She nodded comprehensively as she stared at the screen with footages in Aoyama, some of which he was in.

"I have his email address. He never replied to me, and we could not trace him… but I'm sure if I ask something so important he will answer me." Light clenched his fist at the statement. That was too long a reply for Lawliette, and it told him that she was not confident in what she said. He was supposed to be glad, yes, but he did not like that look in her eyes when she talked about the guy…

He did not know what she actually knew, but he realized that he had been dragging his 'fun' for much too long. It annoyed him that he hadn't been able to… attract her before he got rid of her, but he could no longer risk it.

In any case, his plan would not change. She would have to die.

Tonight.

.  
.

**END OF CHAPTER 12**

**Coming Soon:  
CHAPTER 13: Scarf**

* * *

**REPLIES TO ANGELS**

**Seishirou Hitsugaya- **Waa. I'm so sorryyyy. T_T I can only hope I can make satisfactory enough chapters to make the wait worth it. xD I'm glad that you're liking it more too! Heheh. And of course~ Anything to make that guy jelly. Fufufuufu~ But, unfortunately, the Misa thing will proceed. Thank you for the review! :D

**Guest [5/3/13**]- Hahaha. Oh he _will_. xD Hahahaha. It's just… irresistible to make fun of Matsuda and Light. LOL. I'm so happy you love the story and thank you for the review~!

**Scythe657- **Hahaha. Kaloka ka. xD At Astig! Half-Japanese ka pala. xD Pero san ka lumaki? Dito o sa Japan o sa US? Hahaha. Anyway, Salamat sa review ah~! *apir*

**Fangirl-4-evEr-xx **– N'aw. You're not bad. You should read my first fic, you'd feel _so_ much better. Hahaha. Anyway, practice and experience makes perfect! Fics are no exception. ;) And darn! I'm flattered it's one of the rare stories you follow. xD And thank you for the review! Hahaha

**RukiButterfly**- LOL. Yes—and the ship had set sail, indeed! xD I'm so glad I'm doing a fine job with Fem! L. Heheheh. It's a relief and I'm happy you told me, and thank you for the review~! xD

**BurnedSpy- **Thank you for the review~! Hehehe. Glad you thought it was a great chapter and I, once again, wish that this chapter had been worth the long wait. xD

**CrazyClumsyCoco15- **N'aw. It's an understandable reaction. xD And I'm really glad you gave it a chance nevertheless. *hugs* And yay! You liked Fem!L now and Light, too? So happy~ Ahahahaha! I will try my best to make the chapters hooking enough and thank you for the review~! xD

**SamanLikesTurtles- **Thank you for the review! So glad you thought it was well-written and that, thank goodness, it's one of your fave fics. xD (Hope I can keep it up somehow haha).

**Girl-luvs-manga – **Hai~ I'm not sure which parts exactly you were referring to but I agree. xD I do feel the same way sometimes lol. Thanks for the comment~

**Baylee1100- **Here it is! Sorry it's so late and I can only hope to the heavens it is good enough to wait for. Hahaha. Thanks for the comment! xD

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Thank you for reading!

If it's not so much trouble, do let me know your thoughts! :)  
_Any_ sort of feedback that came from you will be loved~


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